Song Langsheng said that Han Fei was the former prince consort. Before he could finish speaking, I cut him off through gritted teeth: “I was married to him?”
Even the absurd should have its limits.
Song Langsheng said: “Young Master Han fled on the day of his grand wedding to the princess.”
“Fled the wedding? He certainly was bold and reckless. How did he escape, and was he caught afterwards?”
Song Langsheng gave me a sideways glance, “Shouldn’t you be concerned about why he fled the wedding?”
I nodded and spread my hands, indicating I wouldn’t interrupt again.
Song Langsheng said: “As for Young Master Han’s reason for fleeing the wedding, actually, I don’t know either.”
Me: “…”
“Because he never explained it.”
I thought for a moment and analyzed: “Could it be that like you, he was also coerced and forced into agreeing to the marriage against his will, but having more pride deep in his heart, he would rather die than submit to tyranny, hence this action?”
Song Langsheng stared at me without speaking, his face flushing red, probably quite angry. Suffering from having just promised to be “more magnanimous,” he could only endure with twitching lips, forcing out through gritted teeth: “Young Master Han actively showed favor to the princess at the Qionglin Banquet, it seemed like genuine admiration.”
I couldn’t help being surprised: “So he was the one who pursued me first then abandoned me? So I flew into a rage and had him brought to the mansion to torment him and vent my hatred?”
Song Langsheng said: “The princess’s great anger was real, but when Minister Han led Han Fei to beg the Emperor for punishment, thanks to the princess’s plea for mercy, he escaped death, and the matter was left unsettled.”
I touched my nose, “Was I alright then? Could there have been some other conspiracy?”
Song Langsheng pulled a long face: “Why does the princess seem to hope she had dark motives?”
Wasn’t that the case? Cough, of course not.
I gazed at the somewhat glaring morning sun outside the window and said amiably: “This princess is moved by her own noble character, just like the brilliant sun in the sky, infinitely beautiful.”
Song Langsheng raised his sleeve to his mouth and coughed lightly, obviously choked. I waited, and seeing he didn’t respond, I simply said: “Then later, why did he enter the mansion to become my male consort?”
“Unknown.” Song Langsheng said, “He entered the mansion before me. I’ve always avoided asking too much about the princess’s affairs.”
The conversation came to a halt there.
Actually I still had many questions, such as “What does Han Fei usually do in the mansion” and “Have I ever summoned him to my bed” and the like, but given the current atmosphere, it was indeed difficult to voice them. There were still many days ahead, no rush for the moment. I’d set aside these doubts for now.
Song Langsheng, being the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, naturally couldn’t spend all day in the room chatting with me about these romantic matters. After breakfast, he left the mansion.
With nothing else to do, I nestled in the study browsing through those old books that appeared well-thumbed, familiarizing myself with contemporary historical materials and political affairs. Those densely packed characters I only skimmed over with a cursory glance, yet I remembered seven or eight parts out of ten, which was quite pleasantly surprising.
Rumor had it that Princess Xiangyi was extensively learned with profound knowledge, able to compose a hundred poems after drinking. It seemed this reputation was well-founded.
I had flipped through two volumes of comprehensive historical records, then casually picked up a red leather book from the shelf. Its cover bore no writing, and just as I was puzzled, I heard the urgent voice of a maid requesting an audience.
Sigh, why do the maids in this princess mansion always look like they’re walking on thin ice?
There was another visitor, and it was a eunuch from the palace.
When this young fellow entered the room wearing a deep blue buttoned robe, I secretly sighed that this palace servant didn’t know if his castration had been thorough when he entered the palace. With such a magnificent physique, he could probably charge into battle against enemies without any problem. How could he have any connection to being a eunuch?
Indeed, this was the young eunuch who served my Crown Prince younger brother, Cheng Tiezhong, both close and loyal.
Since I returned to the mansion, I could often see him around. As mentioned earlier, my younger brother worried about me terribly, but being the Crown Prince with busy political affairs, recently seeming to be unable to get away due to being troubled by floods in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, so whenever there were tribute gifts or medicinal supplements, he’d have Eunuch Cheng bring them over. Through these comings and goings, I’d become somewhat familiar with him.
So as soon as he entered the room, I asked without looking up: “What has His Highness the Crown Prince sent this time?”
Eunuch Cheng said: “Korean ginseng.”
I said: “This palace’s internal heat is currently vigorous, unsuitable for consuming too many tonics. Go back and tell the Crown Prince, if he keeps sending ginseng and deer antler here, I’ll chop them all up and use them as face powder.”
The prince consort said this was exactly how the princess spoke to the Crown Prince.
Eunuch Cheng smiled: “The princess jests.”
I hummed in response, continuing to flip through my book. Seeing he still hadn’t left, I asked: “Does Eunuch Cheng have other business?”
Eunuch Cheng asked: “Is the princess in good health?”
I nodded: “Nothing seriously wrong.”
He hesitated for a moment, then said: “If the princess has time, please visit the palace to see His Highness the Crown Prince. He misses the princess dearly, yet cannot set aside the matters at hand. Sigh, since the princess fell ill, His Highness the Crown Prince has been frowning with worry…”
Eunuch Cheng began an endless exposition about the Eastern Palace Crown Prince’s affairs, basically trying to persuade me to enter the palace. Originally, without the prince consort’s company, I wasn’t very willing to see the Crown Prince alone, but on second thought, if I revealed any flaws, at most I could honestly admit my memory loss, which wasn’t such a big deal.
“Enough, enough, if this princess doesn’t enter the palace, my ears will develop calluses.”
The imperial palace was even larger than I had imagined.
After getting off the carriage, I sat in the phoenix sedan for quite a while before reaching the Eastern Palace. I simply stopped the sedan and got out to stretch my limbs, slowly strolling through the imperial garden. Along this route with its many twists and turns, relying on instinct, I actually didn’t lose my way. Probably this route was too familiar to my heart, with some sense of direction still remaining in my mind.
When I wandered to the Eastern Palace, I saw Eunuch Cheng’s figure in the distance. He had entered the palace ahead of me to report, and was now standing guard by the room entrance. Just as I approached, I heard someone inside give an explosive shout, faintly mixed with the sound of memorials falling to the ground.
“The disaster relief silver was robbed? After three months of preparation, over a hundred thousand disaster victims in half of Jianghuai are waiting for life-saving aid, and now you think you can dismiss this with a simple report that the disaster silver was robbed?”
The one who dared to shout loudly in the Eastern Palace should be the master of the Eastern Palace himself.
Eunuch Cheng saw me arrive and was about to enter to announce my presence, but I made a silencing gesture at him and stood outside the door to listen. I heard someone say: “The official silver was robbed in the Huaidong area. The prefects of Yangzhou and Huaian are pursuing with full effort. General Song who escorted the official silver that day, along with his soldiers, have been imprisoned awaiting execution. All personnel related to this case…”
Judging by the tone, this should be the chief official handling this case, possibly the Governor-General of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, or possibly the Minister of Justice. But now that things had reached such a critical stage, the Governor-General should remain in Jiangsu and Zhejiang to maintain order, so the Minister of Justice was more likely.
“Minister He, this prince doesn’t want you to execute people now. If executing people could solve the problem, why not execute all of you together!” The Crown Prince was so enraged he spoke without restraint.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince.” Another voice said, “The urgent task now is to quickly re-raise disaster relief silver, send people to borrow grain from nearby unaffected prefectures and counties, and stabilize the people’s hearts. If this triggers civil unrest, the situation will only be harder to control.”
The room fell silent for a moment. The person who spoke dared to counter the Minister of Justice’s meaning, so his rank must be higher. Being able to offer advice when the Crown Prince was furious, I guessed it was probably my uncle, Vice Premier Li. Song Langsheng said that Premier Zhao was extremely deep and calculating, and wouldn’t speak easily unless absolutely necessary, to avoid giving others ammunition against him.
After a moment of silence, the Crown Prince said: “National Uncle Li speaks wisely.”
I figured the atmosphere had eased somewhat, so I nodded to Eunuch Cheng. He understood and called out: “Princess Xiangyi arrives!”
After the announcement, I stepped unhurriedly into the study. The Crown Prince rose to greet me, and I looked at that bright yellow figure, feeling a warm sensation in my heart. This was my younger brother, four years my junior, Xiao Jingyan. Though his features still showed youth, one could already see he would grow into exceptional handsomeness in the future. Who knew how much scheming among the palace beauties this would cause then. Of course, as long as he could ascend to the throne, the women behind the curtains would still compete in wit and courage for him, even if he turned out looking like a pig’s head.
The hall was crowded with nearly half a room of people. After bowing to me, they looked tense. I couldn’t help wondering why they were still nervously on edge when the Crown Prince had clearly calmed down. Only after someone arranged a proper seat for me did I suddenly understand – the person causing the atmosphere to heat up again was this princess herself.
Song Langsheng had said that in front of court officials, when Princess Xiangyi wasn’t being fierce, she was generally quite amiable.
I picked up my teacup and used the porcelain lid to stir the tea leaves, saying: “Continue, pay no mind to this palace.”
Only then did they shift their gaze back to the Crown Prince and continue discussing political affairs. While sipping this Dongshan Biluochun tea, I pondered that during my disappearance, the fake princess definitely couldn’t sit here openly participating in governmental affairs. She’d have to find excuses to avoid it, and after too many times, those officials would think the princess was deliberately letting the Crown Prince handle political affairs alone. So today, everyone was probably terrified, wondering if the situation was so serious that it required the princess to come out of retirement again.
National Uncle continued: “We should now dispatch someone to deliver the collected supplies to Jianghuai, to assist Governor-General Zhang Xianyang of Jiangsu and Zhejiang in handling urgent matters.”
The Crown Prince pondered for a moment and asked: “Do the ministers have anyone to recommend?”
They fell into silence again.
I couldn’t help curling my lip. This was indeed a thankless job – not to mention countless hardships and dangers, the slightest mistake could cost one’s head. However, if someone recommended by the cabinet went, it would be a lucrative position. Under the banner of disaster relief, collecting silver in the court’s name for personal gain – how much profit lay within was self-evident. Now with Father Emperor bedridden and the Crown Prince’s position precarious, any real investigation would probably end up as an unsolved case.
Sure enough, most officials looked troubled and remained silent. Seeing this, Vice Premier Li said: “I recommend one person – Vice Minister of Revenue Chen Yong, who formerly served as Magistrate of Huaian and knows the local conditions of the Huaijiang area well…”
I noticed the Crown Prince’s expression didn’t look good, which was perfectly reasonable. Letting those account-managing people from the Ministry of Revenue get involved in this mess would only make it corrupt to the core. Uncle, are you alright? Don’t make your corruption so obvious, really, you’ll get eliminated sooner or later.
After listening, the Crown Prince nodded noncommittally, swept his gaze over all the officials present, and finally fixed on one person: “Does Premier Zhao have any suitable candidates? Feel free to speak.”
So this old man who looked like he was about to fall asleep was the current Premier, Zhao Gengnian. Hearing the Crown Prince’s call, he opened his eyes and slowly raised his head, saying: “This old minister…” cough cough, “This old minister…” cough cough again.
This old minister was indeed an old minister – such a steady and cautious speaking pace was truly admirable.
I calmly drank my tea.
Then I heard Premier Zhao slowly finish saying: “This old minister recommends the heir of Marquis Xia Yang, Nie Ran.”
Author’s Note: Happy Children’s Day everyone~ Unfortunately, I’m pathetically running a fever with throat ulcers, dizzy and feeling terrible… I just went to the emergency room, and the doctor said I need IV drip. I was going to get the IV, but when I saw it was 2 bottles taking 6 hours total, there wouldn’t be time to update! So I rushed back first, and now that I’ve finished updating I’m going to the hospital for the IV~~ Dear readers, the gift I want to receive for Children’s Day is lots and lots and lots of comments. I want to see lots and lots and lots of comments when I come back tonight to sleep happily~~~ You all understand~~ I’ll reply to each one tomorrow when I wake up~~ kisses