The matter in the Eastern Palace was resolved more smoothly than anticipated. Zhù Ying had no intention of exchanging more words with this father and son pair. She offered a brief farewell; the Crown Prince said to Prince Qiyang: “You see Zichang out for me.”

Zhù Ying demurred twice, but Prince Qiyang stepped forward and made a gesture of “please.” Zhù Ying had no choice but to walk along with him, both maintaining a polite air as they made their way out. Prince Qiyang hesitated for a moment, but ultimately did not ask anything too obvious. As long as Zhù Ying could resolve his troubles, other matters could wait.

He was still young. He had all the time to observe this “capable person.”

Out of the Eastern Palace, Zhù Ying said: “Your Highness, please stop here.”

Prince Qiyang watched her walk away some distance before turning back.

Zhù Ying had not gone far when she spotted Lan De, a line of young and able eunuchs trailing behind him, carrying items toward the Eastern Palace. The two bowed to each other, exchanged a few words. Zhù Ying saw many boxes and guessed the Crown Prince was in the process of moving household — but she did not ask.

She first made a circuit back at the Court of Dependencies, retrieved her cat, and said she needed to go out on business: “I’ll look at the Crown Prince’s old residence first, then pass by the Four Barbarians’ Hostel on the way — I will not be back for lunch.”

Shen Ying was happy enough to run things alone at the Court of Dependencies, though there was nothing particularly pressing at the moment. With the superior gone and the colleagues of equal rank absent, his mood was quite good. He graciously said a few kind words about Zhù Ying: “Young and vigorous, at precisely the right age to advance.” And remarked that he himself was old, content to sit in the Court of Dependencies drinking tea.

Zhù Ying said: “Just bumbling through the days getting things done. Farewell.”

Seeing her gone, the two Assistant Chamberlains Wang and Ruan both immediately found reasons to slip away, calculating how much longer before the offices would seal for the holiday. Just as they were plotting, Shen Ying suddenly asked: “The duty roster for the new year holiday — has it been arranged yet?”

Assistant Chamberlain Ruan had no choice but to step forward: “I was just going to arrange it.”

Shen Ying said: “We are nearly at the holiday — why hasn’t this been attended to earlier? Be quick about it!”

Assistant Chamberlain Ruan quietly cursed his bad luck and made himself scarce. Assistant Chamberlain Wang also said: “I am going to audit the expenditure accounts and seal them off.” The two of them fled together.

Once they were well away, they began whispering to each other. Assistant Chamberlain Wang said: “That man is thoroughly tiresome — he has none of the Chamberlain’s inborn noble air, and nothing of the Lesser Chamberlain’s capable youth. And yet he insists on putting on airs.”

Assistant Chamberlain Ruan gave a grunt: “A total performance of affected refinement — have you ever seen a maidservant turned mistress of the house? A concubine elevated to the position of a principal wife moves every limb and makes every gesture trying to display the dignity of a proper principal wife.”

The two of them said a few words mocking Shen Ying behind his back. Assistant Chamberlain Wang did indeed go to once again audit the Court of Dependencies accounts. He regretted the lost opportunity: he had assumed that, riding on Zhù Ying’s coattails in the way the Protocol Department had done, he might have a little more money to work with — but then Luo Sheng had been occupied, which meant he too could not get away, and he had missed a chance to enrich himself. What was worse, now that Luo Sheng was marrying off his daughter, the Court of Dependencies surely needed to present a generous gift?

Expenditure coming in, expenditure going out — double the drain.

Assistant Chamberlain Wang sighed. He could only hope Zhù Ying would free up some time so he could ask her for a suggestion.

……

Zhù Ying sneezed. Elder Martial Sister Hu cast a sharp look over. Zhù Ying said: “It is nothing. Probably the cat fur.”

The tabby cat in her arms stirred, rearranging itself into a more comfortable position.

The party arrived at the gate of Princess Yongping’s residence. The Princess’s residence was lively and busy. With the new year approaching and the wedding preparations layered on top, there was not a free person to be found in either of the two Princesses’ residences. Even the small soon-to-be bride had things to do, practicing etiquette and ceremonies.

Zhù Ying went to the Princess Yongping’s gate to inquire whether the Chamberlain was at home. The doorman’s steward smiled: “He is indeed. Had you come a little later, you would have just missed him — he was about to head out.”

“On some business?”

“Ah — still on account of the residence matter. Please, come in.”

Zhù Ying tucked the cat into her arms and went inside. Partway in, a small eunuch came to meet her. She knew this path well — not to Luo Sheng’s study, but to where the Princess ordinarily received guests.

Just outside the hall, Zhù Ying first stood and waited while the small eunuch went in to announce her. Those inside permitted her entry. Going in, she found not only Princess Yongping but also Princess Anren, Luo Sheng’s father, Shi Yin, and the steward of Princess Anren’s residence, all present.

Princess Yongping spoke first: “The Lesser Chamberlain has arrived — do not bother with the full ceremony, please sit.”

Princess Anren also said: “We are all close here.”

With them having spoken, only then did Luo Sheng find a moment to say: “I was just thinking of asking Zichang something.”

Zhù Ying hurried to say: “Not at all.” She also gave a bow, then, once the seating arrangement had been worked out — the stewards giving way to a seat further forward for her — she thanked them and sat. She said: “I came straight from the Eastern Palace, on the matter of having the old residence designated for use by our Court of Dependencies. The Crown Prince has agreed — I have come to report to the honored official.”

Princess Anren spoke her mind directly: “At present, that is not really the pressing matter.”

Luo Sheng feared his mother would again say something imprudent, and hurriedly said: “Zichang has taken care of official matters well. Today the Imperial Astronomical Bureau has calculated an auspicious date, and this is what I have been worrying over.”

“The date is set?”

Luo Sheng said: “Yes. The betrothal gifts will be exchanged before the new year; there are auspicious dates in the third, fourth, and sixth months of next year.”

Princess Yongping gave a sigh. Again it was Princess Anren who spoke: “You are capable and full of good ideas — do you see any good solution to this business of preparing the new residence?”

Zhù Ying asked: “What does the household have in mind? And what has come before this?”

Luo Sheng called out “Mother” first, stopping her before she could speak, then said to Shi Yin: “Better to let the household steward explain.”

Shi Yin gave a clear and organized account of everything that had transpired over these past days, his voice brimming with the glee of a man about to escape a quagmire. He and Princess Anren’s household steward had borne far too much anguish.

The Emperor wanted the wedding held quickly. The princesses wanted it to be grand. But the Ministry of Finance had clamped its jaw shut and absolutely refused to sanction excessive expenditure — they had just been through a disaster. No resolution had been reached at court, and Princess Anren had first directed her frustration at her husband and son — but after all, they were family, and after a few words it passed. This left the people beneath them to suffer.

Shi Yin lowered his voice: “There is also the matter of dealings with the Capital Governor’s office.”

Princess Anren again said resentfully: “That little thing, Seventh Prince! Is it possible he still has his eye on Prince Chengyi and refuses to allow our grandchild’s residence to be larger than Prince Chengyi’s?”

She was Zheng Xi’s maternal aunt, and she felt Zheng Xi had an obligation to help her — but Zheng Xi had played dead and said not a word in support of tearing down dozens of households’ homes in the dead of winter to build his paternal aunt’s granddaughter-in-law a residence.

Zhù Ying’s estimation of Zheng Xi rose another notch. In the heart of winter, demolishing people’s homes — how would they be accommodated? Even if new housing were built, no one was going to have a peaceful new year.

Zhù Ying said: “Prince Chengyi has opened a residence outside the palace — how could a residence outside the palace compare in grandeur to Prince Qiyang’s accommodation within the palace?”

Princess Anren said: “I am not talking about now — I mean after they are married! A third month wedding is already terribly rushed! Even if we chose the sixth month, even now the foundation site has not been sorted out! How long is this going to drag on?”

She listed her grievances at length. Princess Yongping advised: “Please do not agitate yourself — agitating will not help. Let us also hear what the official has to say; do not put Father in a difficult position.”

Zhù Ying waited while the family comforted one another, then said: “What I said was about after the marriage. How could any residence outside the palace compare to living within the palace?”

Princess Anren asked: “What do you mean?”

Zhù Ying said: “His Highness’s filial devotion is admirable — he does not wish to make things difficult for His Majesty, and how noble that is. Just now I said I had come from the Eastern Palace — the Eastern Palace has been newly refurbished. The new bride coming to live there is entirely fitting. A few days ago I heard the honored official say he worried that his daughter, young as she is, might not be up to the duties of managing a household. How wonderful this arrangement is, then — she leaves her parents’ home, and enters the home of her maternal grandfather and her maternal uncle. Nothing could be more appropriate.”

Princess Yongping nodded slowly.

Zhù Ying further said to the two Luo Chamberlains: “With this arrangement, the clashes and disputes with the Ministry of Finance and others are also avoided. When people fall into argument, one word leads to another, and before long things are said that should not be said. Would that not spoil the occasion? The palace chambers are newly built — skipping this step also shows the dignity and grace of the new bride.”

Princess Anren said: “So then — there will be no new residence at all?”

Zhù Ying smiled: “Your granddaughter — is it better to have her married directly into the palace, or to have her married into a feudal prince’s mansion and then scheme for a way to move her into the palace?”

“I…”

Both Chamberlains exchanged a glance and nodded together. Old Chamberlain Luo was meeting Zhù Ying for the first time, and offered a word of praise: “No wonder my son speaks so highly of the Lesser Chamberlain.”

This person’s looks were not as fine as his son’s, and there was an air of pride about her, but his courtesy toward Zhù Ying was more than adequate.

Zhù Ying said: “You are too kind. The honored official said he was heartbroken for his daughter, and I thought — there could not be anything more fitting than this.”

Princess Yongping said: “Only I do not know how the Eastern Palace views this. And Father has gone to such lengths over this matter — would our doing this make Father look bad?”

Zhù Ying drew a document from her sleeve and handed it to Luo Sheng: “Take a look, honored official. If there are no other requirements, I will bring this back to the Eastern Palace and mention the matter in passing. If we discuss it ahead of time and each party submits their own petition, His Majesty in his deep love for his children and grandchildren, and with the children showing consideration for their father — would that not be a situation that pleases everyone? It would be best if it also goes up under the names of the young couple themselves — they are willing. If the Eastern Palace is not amenable, it is also my meddlesome talking — nothing to do with your household.”

The two generations of princesses and chamberlainsall offered a few remarks. Luo Sheng asked Zhù Ying sincerely: “Is this good for the child?”

Zhù Ying said: “Her maternal grandfather is in the palace.”

Old Chamberlain Luo got there first: “Then let it be so!”

Luo Sheng passed the document back to Zhù Ying: “We have troubled Zichang.”

Zhù Ying took it back and rose: “What is the honored official saying? I will go now and work out with them how the old residence is to be handed over.”

Luo Sheng personally walked her to the gate, making his request of her again and again.

——…——

Zhù Ying went first to the Four Barbarians’ Hostel, where she had lunch together with Kun Da Chi and Kun Da Chi. Both men looked fairly relaxed. During the meal, they discussed their plans for the journey home. The places they came from were both quite cold — it would still be snowing in the third month — and so they planned to depart in the second month, remaining in the capital to celebrate the Lantern Festival.

Zhù Ying smiled: “The great lantern mountain display at the capital’s Lantern Festival is magnificent!”

They also chatted about the festivals in their respective homelands, and both men’s faces showed expressions of longing and admiration. Zhù Ying surmised that the situation back in their own countries was relatively stable, which was why neither was in any hurry to leave.

After lunch, she visited the old residence and looked it over, then turned around and returned to the Eastern Palace.

By this time, the Eastern Palace had finished lunch. The Crown Prince did not dare nap in the afternoon, and was dozing against a heated stand while a eunuch read aloud from a newly published collection of essays.

When Zhù Ying arrived a second time, the Crown Prince set aside the essay collection and had Prince Qiyang come out to receive her.

After Zhù Ying entered and made her bow, she brought out the document. The Crown Prince had no attention for such things, and said: “Just do as discussed. How is it?”

Zhù Ying said: “The Princess is very willing at heart. What she is concerned about is only her father and elder brother’s position. She also said that entrusting her daughter to her own father and elder brother is naturally a comfort to her — she only fears imposing too much on them. She is grateful that Your Highness is looking after the child. She has been worried about this matter, going back and forth at court for many days now. She fears that if she says now to stop building a new residence, it will look like she is playing the clever one, leaving her father and elder brother out in front to take the blame. As long as her father and elder brother are willing, she is also willing to share their burden.”

“Oh?”

Prince Qiyang leaned toward the Crown Prince’s ear and said: “He means — he did not tell the Princess that we agreed first before going to the Princess’s residence to speak. The Princess fears we might not agree, and it is the Princess who is beholden to us.”

The Crown Prince smiled: “We are all family — why so much ceremony?”

Zhù Ying added: “Let the Princess submit a petition as well, and let the Eastern Palace each submit their own memorial, petitioning His Majesty.”

The Crown Prince said: “But of course.”

Zhù Ying once again asked the Crown Prince to review the documents concerning the old residence. It seemed he was at last in the proper mood to look through them carefully. The Crown Prince truly did read from the beginning: “Just these few areas? How are they to be partitioned?”

Zhù Ying said: “Yes — these few are enough for now. Rather than wall off a door and disrupt the geomancy of the place, we shall simply lock it for the time being.” These matters had all been discussed before; the Crown Prince clearly had not had the presence of mind to retain any of it.

Once the explanations were done, Zhù Ying settled with the Eastern Palace on completing the handover before the new year. She took the official documents and made another trip to the Princess’s residence to convey what had been said. Both parties were very satisfied. The Eastern Palace was glad to demonstrate that its legitimacy surpassed Prince Chengyi’s; the Princess’s residence felt that a long-standing worry had at last been relieved. The child going to live in the palace meant that visits were less convenient, but it was also one less burden to carry.

The princesses also had one private, unspoken concern: Prince Qiyang was already sixteen, and expecting him to keep himself pure while waiting for his young wife to grow up was all but impossible. Within the palace, with elders keeping watch, it was harder to have improper company around him. Even if there were to be bedchamber attendants, they would be drawn from palace women of upstanding appearance and manner — meaning not particularly alluring.

Both parties’ abacuses clicked away busily, but Zhù Ying did not say one more word of commentary about any of this.

……

Minister Dou Peng, though he knew Zhù Ying was a capable young person with a streak of ruthlessness in her, could not for the life of him imagine how she would bring this matter to completion.

Not only bring it to completion, but do so without leaving a visible trace. And do it quickly — because the auspicious date calculated by the Imperial Astronomical Bureau waited for no one. Dou Peng had already steeled himself to spend the next day reading the Emperor’s expression once more.

For the current state of the court’s finances, holding a grand wedding ceremony and building a magnificent royal residence were expenses entirely within what could be managed. Even if the Ministry of Finance put up no money, the Emperor’s private funds were sufficient. But Dou Peng still retained some of the conscience he had cultivated as a local administrator — in the depths of winter, on the eve of the new year, to demolish people’s homes: how would they be housed? It would be unconscionable.

At the same time, Wang Yunhe, Shi Kun, and others were also not particularly in favor of this approach. They inclined toward building a modest, serviceable residence, or requisitioning an existing one and modifying it somewhat. Prince Qiyang’s new residence, barring unforeseen circumstances, would before long become a Crown Prince’s residence, and in due time, a palace. Truly, there was no need to labor the people and exhaust the treasury.

Dou Peng had not yet stepped inside the hall when he had already arranged his face into an expression of a creditor waiting to be repaid. He too needed to give someone a look.

But to his surprise, the Crown Prince spoke first: “This official has a memorial to present.”

Since he had been permitted to attend court, the Crown Prince had never once taken the initiative to raise a matter on his own. Dou Peng looked at the Emperor, but found the Emperor wearing an expression of entirely unsurprised calm. The Emperor said: “What is the matter?”

The Crown Prince’s memorial had not been written by himself — it had been composed by the newly appointed brush-wielder of his Household Administration office. It took up the themes of frugality and love for the people, then moved to the joys of family life together, and went on to lavish praise on the Emperor’s deep affection for his sons and grandchildren and on the children’s reluctance to see their father torn between concern for the people and concern for the family. It also praised Minister Dou Peng for his loyalty — framed as his acting out of devotion to the preservation of the imperial family’s reputation.

Everyone was a good person!

Then came Luo Sheng. His content was largely the same as the Eastern Palace’s: also expressing gratitude to Dou Peng for his timely reminder and for sparing his family’s reputation from damage. At the same time, he stated that the young couple would observe filial piety and attend upon the Emperor and the Crown Prince and his wife.

The Princess and the bride-to-be also had memorials. Both expressed gratitude for the Emperor’s loving care. The bride-to-be’s memorial even included a line saying “I hope to be at Your Majesty’s side in service,” and added that her mother Princess Yongping had often at home thought of the Emperor with longing, and that now she herself had the opportunity to serve in her mother’s stead — she was inwardly very willing. She hoped to be permitted to do so.

Anyone could hear that this one had also been written by someone else on her behalf.

The Emperor felt a wave of sentiment and said: “Such good children. Then let it be so.”

Dou Peng, upon hearing all this, did not wait for anyone else’s gaze to land on his back. Smoothly and without hesitation, he stepped forward, first praised the Emperor for his care for the common people, then commended the Crown Prince and the Princess for their deep wisdom and understanding, and finally lavished high praise on the bride-to-be. His cooperation was so perfectly seamless that one could almost have been fooled into thinking this had all been staged with him.

The trouble was that after Zhù Ying had said she would go and resolve this matter, she had not given him a single word of notice!

One day. She had done it in one day. And she had not even coordinated the wording with him ahead of time!

Wang Yunhe and Shi Kun were only faintly startled inwardly, and suspected that someone must have offered the Eastern Palace a clever suggestion. As for who that someone was — looking here and looking there, none of the current people in the Household Administration office looked remotely capable of pulling off something like this. If it had been in the past, the late Crown Prince’s Household Administration officer Zheng Xi would have been a possible candidate.

But this did not prevent them from swiftly and adeptly summing up the affair — everyone had behaved wonderfully, and therefore the wedding ceremony could also dispense with much of the excess, allowing the date to be moved up.

They had set the tone; the rest of the high ministers followed suit and offered their rounds of praise. Zheng Xi followed along with the general flow, yet inwardly wondered: where had these two households found such a strategist… hmm?

After the assembly adjourned, Zheng Xi did not immediately leave the palace, but waited for Luo Sheng to exit, and said to him: “Did Third Elder Brother come to the Court of Dependencies to report for duty today? He borrowed quite a number of constables from the Capital Governor’s office, saying he needed to find the Wuzhou messengers — and still there is no word. The New Year’s Day celebration is nearly upon us, and the streets are short of people. Could you look into this?”

Luo Sheng immediately said: “Oh? He comes every morning — and after that he goes to the Four Barbarians’ Hostel. I will go have a look right now and pass along the message to the Seventh Prince. But — Seventh Prince — Zichang has always been a person who knows what he is doing. If he has not returned the constables, it must be because they are still needed. Could you allow a few more days?”

Zheng Xi heard him defending Zhù Ying, and grew more convinced that Zhù Ying had solved quite a few of his troubles for him. Luo Sheng’s reputation over the past half-year had been steadily improving, and Zheng Xi was well aware of the reasons why.

Luo Sheng, lacking Zheng Xi’s many layers of thought, was still waiting for Zheng Xi’s reply. Zheng Xi said: “Let me have a word with him and then we’ll decide.”

“All right, please.”

The two of them went to the Court of Dependencies. Upon seeing Zheng Xi, Shen Ying started slightly. Zheng Xi and Shen Ying had worked alongside each other twenty years ago but since then had had no close dealings. Now, meeting again, Zheng Xi put on a cordial face and greeted him.

Of the four people present, only Luo Sheng was sincere. Shen Ying caught sight of Zheng Xi’s purple official robes and felt a rush of wistful feeling, and lost whatever mood he had, with only a husk of pleasantries left. Zheng Xi and Zhù Ying were genuinely at ease, exchanging bows and greetings like two people who had rehearsed the steps together.

Luo Sheng, in sincere good faith, put in another good word and asked Zheng Xi for an extension of the loan. Zhù Ying said: “Of course the Capital Governor’s office is important — why don’t we discuss this together?”

Zheng Xi said: “Good. Come find me at the Capital Governor’s office.”

Luo Sheng and Zhù Ying exchanged a glance, and Zhù Ying then went with Zheng Xi to the Capital Governor’s office.

——…——

On the way, Zheng Xi and Zhù Ying did not speak of the “real business.” Zhù Ying, in fact, was not in any hurry. All five copies of the memorials had been retrieved — two were officially submitted, three had been burned. Right now she was simply going through the motions, waiting until after the first month when all the foreign envoys had gone home; this matter would naturally fade away. After that it would be a matter of waiting for the Censor to return and seeing the results of the five counties maneuvering against the provincial governor.

Zheng Xi was not in any hurry either. He was seven or eight tenths certain that it was Zhù Ying’s doing. Looking at the three of them back there in the Court of Dependencies — Luo Sheng instinctively drew closer to Zhù Ying’s side; who was near and who was far, one glance told you everything.

He talked with Zhù Ying about this and that — was the Court of Dependencies busy, and what was the northern tribal envoy up to these days. At the Capital Governor’s office, he still held his morning meeting first, and only then went with Zhù Ying to the study to speak.

Once in the study, he dispensed with formality: “Sit.”

The two sat down. Zheng Xi said: “Well done.”

“Oh? What is well done?”

Zheng Xi said: “Today the Eastern Palace suddenly announced they would not need the Qiyang Prince’s residence to be built. Was that you?”

Zhù Ying smiled. Zheng Xi said: “And how did the Princess change her mind? That was you too, was it not?”

Zhù Ying smiled again: “You are too perceptive, honored official.”

Zheng Xi gave a cold laugh: “Did I not tell you — the Princess was so firmly determined to have a grand new residence to match the Luo family’s daughter? And just like that, she changes her mind? Hmph. And there was only one person who would also think to have the Luo family’s daughter submit her own memorial.”

“You figured that out too?”

Zheng Xi thought of his own daughter, and his irritation ebbed. He said: “Your nerve is quite something.”

Zhù Ying said: “To be honest — if you had not called me just now, I would have gone straight to find Minister Dou.”

“Oh?”

“The Wuzhou situation is not good. I want to look through the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Personnel archives to see whether there is anyone suitable to go there and take over. Minister Dou was in no mood to deal with me — did I not have to resolve his problem first?”

Zheng Xi frowned: “What happened in Wuzhou?”

Zhù Ying slowly told him about the Wuzhou situation: “More than ten years of effort — it cannot be allowed to go to waste. If unrest breaks out in the court, Wuzhou counts for nothing — who will have the heart to manage it? I would not like to see court turmoil, with the Ministry of Finance quarreling with His Majesty, and then Wuzhou suffers in the meantime. A peaceful court is in everyone’s interest.”

Zheng Xi said: “It also has to be a peace that can actually be maintained.”

Zhù Ying said: “Unfortunately, many people are unwilling to go to Wuzhou. Anyone I might find will have one flaw or another.” As she said this, she glanced at Zheng Xi. The people on Zheng Xi’s side had very little interest in a place three thousand li away.

Zheng Xi said: “Whatever difficulties Wuzhou presents, you may speak to me of them. As for Eastern Palace affairs — try to keep your involvement to a minimum.”

“I would never dare act as a thief — what involvement would I have?” Zhù Ying smiled. “I am nothing more than a common person who fears being caught in the crossfire when powerful figures clash.”

“I am afraid you will find it increasingly hard to stay out of the way — do you think Prince Lu and Prince Tang will just quietly settle down?”

“With Prince Chengyi properly arranged by you, those two count for nothing.”

Zheng Xi said: “You and your sharp mind!”

Zhù Ying said: “I must say — you complimenting yourself this way is not a good habit. I am sharp, and you saw through me — does that not just mean you are even sharper? A man who already has grandchildren, and yet still so…”

Zheng Xi raised his hand as if to strike her. Zhù Ying stood up: “Your men — I still need to borrow them a few more days. I am not returning them now. I am leaving.”

“Get back here!”

Zhù Ying stopped, her eyes asking the question.

Zheng Xi said: “You always have your own mind about things, so I suppose I need to tell you this — to save you from doing something out of ignorance. The Zhao Prince at one point privately asked me to find a match for his son — to marry your second daughter.”

“Qiyang?”

Zheng Xi gave a nod.

And at last Zhù Ying understood why the Crown Prince had asked her whether she was there for Zheng Xi or for Luo Sheng. Zheng Xi’s mouth was too tight for words!