Su Zhe lay awake worrying for half the night, racking her brain without being able to devise any solution whatsoever.
All people must eventually die.
When a father or mother dies, a son must observe the full mourning period, and even someone as exalted as Zheng Xi — a Chief Minister at that — would have to return home and remain there dutifully. Even if he did not die this year, year by year going forward, every year would look extremely dangerous.
Su Zhe had spent a good amount of time in Zhù Da’s company. This old fellow, though he did not look like the sort of person who could have produced someone like Zhù Ying, was indeed Zhù Ying’s father.
He was a person she would absolutely never warm to, yet she could not quite say she disliked him either. Even at the thought that he would die, she felt a touch of sadness — yet she had to accept the fact that Zhù Da, at over seventy, had outlived even the Emperor.
What worried Su Zhe was not the mourning period itself, but how it would be observed. Would it be in the south, or remaining in the capital? When the mourning period arrived was not something human effort could determine.
Half the night passed without her arriving at any perfect solution. In the latter half of the night, Su Zhe finally sank into a deep sleep. Just before falling asleep, she thought: what will A’Weng do?
Zhù Ying also lay awake for half the night, but unlike Su Zhe’s restless tossing, she spent it occupied with tasks.
The letter had been sent with great urgency. The one Su Zhe received was Su Mingluan’s family letter; what Zhù Ying received were letters written by Huajie, Zhù Qingjun, and others. At the time, she had quickly unsealed and read them, when Luo Sheng arrived, and Zhù Ying had tucked the letters away first. After managing Luo Sheng, finishing dinner, completing her practice, and receiving several more guests, the sky had grown pitch dark before she returned to the study to read the letters carefully.
Huajie’s letter described Zhù Da’s condition — it was Huajie herself who had taken his pulse. Worried that her own medical skills were insufficient, she had spent a considerable sum to engage a physician from the prefectural city of the neighboring prefecture to examine him. To prevent rumors from spreading, they had not disclosed Zhù Da’s identity, claiming instead that he was an elderly honored elder of some family in Wuzhou who had fallen ill.
Wuzhou had produced many officials over these past decade or so, most of whom had fathers, and outsiders could not easily determine which family’s “honored elder” it was.
After the joint consultation, only one conclusion was reached: “He is advanced in age, and his body was damaged in his younger years.” Moreover, one highly skilled physician remarked, “That he has survived to the present is already owing to the accumulated virtue of his ancestors.” What remained was to simply endure the days as they came.
Huajie wrote to Zhù Ying precisely to have her make preparations well in advance. The mourning period would certainly have to be observed — a full three years of it. Fortunately, Zhang Xiangu’s condition was still passable; she could still eat and sleep. But Huajie dared not be careless and had deployed two additional young women to keep her company.
Along with the letter, Huajie wrote briefly of other matters at the country estate — for instance, Hou Wu’s legs were not as capable as before. When he had come to the Zhù household, the promise made to him was that they would care for him in his old age. So Huajie and Zhang Xiangu discussed it, and it was a good occasion to transfer the duties in Hou Wu’s hands to Zhù Qingjun. Hou Wu’s living arrangements would remain the same; two male servants were additionally assigned to look after his daily needs; he would take his meals with the household kitchen; and if he fell ill, the household would see to it.
Huajie wrote somewhat circumspectly in the letter that “while he was at the residence, a small separate courtyard was allocated for him to live in; no separate lodging was provided for him at the country estate; defense and troop drilling are now overseen by Qingjun. Qingjun also lives at the residence, and I have set aside a separate room for her there as well.”
This meant Zhù Qingjun was taking over from Hou Wu and gradually reducing Hou Wu’s external influence. The country estate’s troops must not be divided — this was Huajie’s judgment.
Zhù Ying noted that in her letter, Huajie had used the terms “soldiers” and “troops.”
Having carefully read through Huajie’s letter, she then read Zhang Xiangu’s — besides saying that Zhù Da was still alive and gradually recovering, it was mostly Zhang Xiangu urging Zhù Ying to take good care of herself. Separated by three thousand li, many things Zhang Xiangu would sooner let fester in her heart than write down in a letter.
Zhù Ying then unsealed Zhù Qingjun’s letter. This letter was half family correspondence and half official report. The first half also touched on Zhù Da, Zhang Xiangu, Huajie, and the others. The second half contained a thick and detailed account of the situation at the country estate and in Wuzhou. Among the contents was “training a new army.”
Zhù Qingjun was different from Hou Wu — before she had returned, she had already been a formally commissioned military officer, and what she had seen and experienced surpassed Hou Wu’s. Hou Wu had never managed too many people; Zhù Qingjun had gradually come to command several hundred in the north. Her abilities were naturally stronger.
Zhù Qingjun had conducted an assessment of the “military strength” of each county in Wuzhou, and her summary was that ordinary people were nothing but an undisciplined mob; even the soldiers in the various county commanders’ stockades could not be counted as “elite” — their fighting strength fell below that of the northern frontier fighters. The country estate’s “troops,” after Hou Wu’s training, were slightly stronger than the soldiers in the county stockades. So she planned to train several hundred soldiers to the standard of a county garrison.
The current arrangement at the country estate was a conscription system. Zhù Qingjun sought instructions on whether to continue conscription as at present, which differed from the northern military system, or to shift to voluntary recruitment. Her personal view was that either approach was viable. Since the country estate currently had no problem of “land encroachment,” conscription was sustainable. If voluntary recruitment were preferred, she had also consulted Huajie — the funds for several hundred infantry and several dozen cavalry were available.
The entire financial management of the country estate was now headed by Huajie, with Xiang An and Wu Ren as the actual managers, with Xiang Le occasionally helping out.
Zhù Qingjun had spent several months traversing the entirety of the new Wuzhou territory on foot, drawn up a map, and made a tour of Wuzhou’s borders. She concluded that the country estate should stand firm on its own foundations while also guarding against the other counties. They were unlikely to attack the country estate outright, but figures like Xi Jin and Lu Guo had a tendency to cause trouble, and might need the country estate to come to their aid.
She had also assessed all the counties in turn, and in the end offered a careful suggestion: though it was all loose rein governance, did not the whole of Wuzhou still need a central pillar?
Zhù Ying let out a sigh, finished reading all the remaining letters, and then read through Xiang An’s — which spoke of conditions at the country estate and described plans to coordinate with Zhù Qingjun in traveling to even more western and northern tribal groups. However, for reasons well known to all, merchant caravans would likely not be safe, and would need armed escorts.
Zhù Ying read through all of these one by one, then read Zhang Xiangu’s letter again with care, picked up her brush, and began to list the key points.
Zhang Xiangu’s condition. The salt flats situation. The country estate’s population. Training troops. Last of all, she wrote in heavy strokes: had Wuzhou already made contact with the tribes further to the west, and had more conflicts taken place?
Three thousand li from the country estate, and even Zhù Da’s illness the previous year had been kept from her — if some friction had occurred in Wuzhou without being reported to her, it was not impossible.
Zhù Ying spent the entire night listing these items, but did not immediately put brush to paper to write replies.
The next morning, Su Zhe shuffled bleary-eyed to breakfast as if sleepwalking, but just as she stepped over the threshold, she suddenly jolted awake and carefully glanced at Zhù Ying’s expression.
Zhù Ying’s manner was as usual, and that strange feeling from the evening before had vanished. Su Zhe looked at Lin Feng and saw that his left eye was black and blue — no wonder he had not been seen at dinner last night.
Everyone sat down, and Zhù Ying picked up a steamed bun and asked Lin Feng, “What happened to your eye?”
Lin Feng said vaguely, “We were fooling around with the others, and I accidentally caught a hit.”
Zhù Ying caught the smell of medicinal oil and said no more, turning instead to ask Su Zhe, “What are you doing today?”
Su Zhe said, “Teacher Yang still has official duties today. I’ll go to the guild hall first and visit him this evening to ask for guidance.”
“That’s fine.”
Everyone ate, and partway through the meal, Zhù Ying suddenly asked, “Has the family gotten into a fight again with the Yigan clan, or the Xika clan?”
Lin Feng had just bitten open a pork-filled steamed bun — its juices had soaked both his lips — and thwack, half the bun dropped onto the table, bounced, and rolled onto the floor. Su Zhe was just reaching her chopsticks toward a piece of smoked fish on the small dish, and clink — the chopsticks jabbed straight down onto the porcelain plate.
So there had been a fight.
Zhù Ying raised an eyebrow.
Su Zhe said hurriedly, “That — A’Mah didn’t write about it in the letter either. I heard people from the guild hall mention it in passing. We didn’t really lose anything. Besides, everyone is living well these days — who would want to bother with them without cause?”
Lin Feng nodded vigorously. “Exactly, exactly! These things are handled, don’t worry! We already fight much less than before! Before you came to Wuzhou, which season didn’t have a fight?”
He was a few years older than Su Zhe, and still remembered stories from his childhood — the various families and tribes seizing each other’s bondservants, capturing people as property… isn’t that right?
Su Zhe said, “Even now, we don’t do that often.”
“Exactly, exactly!” Lin Feng reached out to grab another bun, hesitated halfway, and drew his hand back.
Zhù Ying let out a sigh. “Very well. I understand. From now on, do not conceal Wuzhou’s matters from me.”
“Yes!” Su Zhe answered very quickly. “Then… the country estate… Great-grandfather Zhù…”
“He has already recovered. He simply needs to rest and recuperate.”
“And going forward…”
Zhù Ying said, “It’s fine.”
Su Zhe was not quite sure what this “fine” meant — whether it signified that Zhù Da had already fully recovered, or whether… But asking Zhù Ying point-blank at breakfast what she planned to do when her own father died was more than Su Zhe had the nerve for. She obediently kept her mouth shut, and her appetite shrank by half.
Lin Feng on the other side also dared not breathe a sound. Not until after the meal was finished and Zhù Ying had gone to morning court did Lin Feng follow along behind her toward the court. As a former member of the Eastern Palace, having caught this carriage in its final moments, Lin Feng had risen to the junior fifth rank, and from that point onward Zhù Ying going to court had acquired a shadow that tagged along.
Today’s morning court had no arguments. Lin Feng endured through the court session, yawned, spun around, and walked straight into someone. The two of them made eye contact, and both gave a simultaneous “Hmph!” That person glanced at the bruise on Lin Feng’s cheek and let out a cold laugh. Lin Feng returned two cold snorts and swept his gaze over the split lip on the other man’s face.
This was the very person Lin Feng had brawled with the day before.
Nearby colleagues, afraid they would cause trouble, separated the two, speaking quietly to calm them down. One side said, “He just has a foul mouth — no deeper meaning to it.” The other side said, “Lin Feng is Su Zhe’s maternal uncle — speaking about her in front of her uncle was the original rudeness on your part.”
The fact was that there had never before been a female official standing in the court ranks, and word had been spreading around these past few days. First, the etiquette did not accord with it; second, no one knew how to deal with her. Some felt that such a troublesome matter, accomplished with no real benefit, would be better left undone. Beyond saying that it was improper for Su Zhe as a woman to appear in public and that it reeked of barbarian customs, they also included Zhù Ying in their criticism, saying her favoritism had reached the point of being incomprehensible and violated proper decorum.
Word had traveled back, and Lin Feng heard it and lunged forward with a thorough thrashing. After finishing the fight, Lin Feng felt it had been pointless, returned home, and had not even complained to Zhù Ying about it. So this matter, Zhù Ying still did not know the full details of.
The higher one’s official rank climbs, the more affairs one manages, the more one knows — and the more one does not know.
Zhù Ying had come to feel this deeply.
She exercised her patience and finished distributing the Ministry of Revenue’s affairs before calling Zhao Su aside alone.
Zhao Su’s days of late had been extremely comfortable. The superior directly above him was Ye Deng, who was not particularly fond of managing details and handled everything in broad strokes, delegating many of the affairs to him. Zhao Su grew more energized the more he worked, learning a great deal from the tasks he managed.
Hearing Zhù Ying summon him for something, Zhao Su — though his hands held quite a number of pending affairs — agreed with spirited energy, and quickly made his way before Zhù Ying.
Since the morning meeting had already received all the reports, Zhù Ying did not ask about official business again, and went straight to the point. “News of Wuzhou — how much do you know?”
Zhao Su opened his mouth. “Ah — not very much. It is far too distant, and news is not easy to come by. I know more about Fulu County, where my father and mother still reside.”
Zhù Ying nodded, then asked, “The southern scholars whom we recommended — how much do you know about them?”
Zhao Su quickly said, “Any who were met at my adoptive father’s home, I can recognize. Those currently serving in outside posts — when official documents from the Ministry of Revenue correspond with them, if I recognize the name, or if the place they serve rings a bell, I pay particular attention.”
Zhù Ying said, “That’s not what I’m asking. I’m asking about their official reputations and whether any have committed unlawful acts.”
Zhao Su said, “I know a little, but not much.”
Zhù Ying said, “From now on, you must pay attention to this. We cannot be like Chief Minister Xian — his subordinates do whatever they like and he is unaware, still defending them. By the time it comes to light, he is already riding a tiger with no way to dismount — it cannot be patched up, and it cannot be undone. At that point his own proper work will also be disrupted.”
Zhao Su said gravely, “Yes. I was negligent about this. He is indeed a cautionary example for me! However, Adoptive Father — water that is too clear has no fish. The southern scholars share only a common origin; they are not all gentlemen. When they were recommended, it was because they were reasonably obedient and capable. Ordinary people are still the majority in this world, and this standard…”
Zhù Ying said, “Use your own judgment. I have one simple rule: they must not break the law openly.”
“Yes.”
“Go.”
With Zhao Su sent off, Zhù Ying began writing letters. She had, in a sense, gone through the affairs of Wuzhou and the southern scholars once more, and could now write letters all together. Beyond what concerned her parents, the salt flats, and the country estate, she gave particular instruction to Zhù Qingjun regarding the training of troops.
After writing them and dispatching them, she could only wait for replies.
Three thousand li away, dispatching her own people rather than relying on official courier horses — correspondence back and forth would require waiting for months.
Fortunately, the court was gradually growing calmer. The Emperor, for one — whether or not it was the result of Zhù Ying’s efforts at persuasion — appeared far more settled. He listened patiently to the Secretariat of State’s reports and court memorials without rushing to express opinions. Prince Wei, Prince Qi, and the others were all “generously indulged,” yet not given a single real task to manage. If asked, the answer was always that it was a matter of honoring and loving one’s elders.
When Xian Jing submitted a memorial proposing to recall officials who had been through local postings for service in the central government, the Emperor approved it, but did not ask Xian Jing which “officials who had been through local postings” were worth recalling. Xian Jing’s memorial seemed to have been approved, and yet also seemed to have been overlooked.
The Emperor also made certain adjustments to the officials — for instance, he transferred Li Yanqing to serve as a vice minister in the Ministry of Rites. Li Yanqing was a man who had actively requested to grind out a decade of experience in the localities.
The Ministry of Rites’ current minister was Yao Zhen, who had been transferred from the Ministry of Personnel to the Ministry of Rites in what appeared to be a demotion, but the Emperor additionally bestowed official posts on his children and grandchildren, which left Yao Zhen reasonably satisfied.
The actual list of those recalled was one Chen Meng had drawn up for the Emperor. Chen Meng also held a list that Chen Fan had left him — officials whom Chen Fan had looked favorably upon and dispatched to local postings for experience. Those who had persisted to the present were no ordinary figures; it was just that there had been one Zhù Ying among this cohort who was too conspicuous, making the others appear less remarkable than they were.
In truth, the same cohort as Zhù Ying had numbered over a hundred; those who had survived the winnowing numbered several dozen, and these people together formed the backbone of the court.
Chen Meng made no ceremony of meeting with Shi Kun and Zhù Ying separately, compiled a list of thirty people, and presented it to the Emperor. Chen Meng had prepared extremely thoroughly, briefly listing each person’s official history and achievements on a separate sheet — one sheet per person — leaving the Emperor to read through them at leisure.
The Emperor was in no hurry. The Zheng and Xian factions were busy tearing each other apart. Their mutual denunciations suited his purpose perfectly — whenever the evidence was solid, the Emperor would remove the person in question and replace them with someone from the list.
After three such replacements, both Xian and Zheng suddenly saw through the pattern and temporarily halted this pointless activity — the Emperor had actually grown shrewd.
With the mutual ceasefire in place, Su Zhe’s appointment as a vice director in the Ministry of Rites became conspicuous. The conspicuousness lay in the fact that she was a woman — and she was attending court openly! She attended every court session she could, and together with Lin Feng, the two of them were like twin door guardians, riding their horses every day flanking Zhù Ying on left and right.
This was rather audacious.
Huo Yu therefore submitted a memorial, requesting the court to deliberate: this state of affairs was unseemly!
The first time Huo Yu submitted this memorial, it landed in Xian Jing’s hands, and Xian Jing suppressed it. Having waited a long time without receiving any response, Huo Yu no longer went through the Secretariat of State, and instead addressed the Emperor directly during court: “I have a matter to memorialize!”
The Emperor asked what the matter was. Huo Yu presented his view before the assembled court: “The Su clan has received the grace of the state, been granted official rank and titles, defends the borders on the state’s behalf, with the position passed from mother to daughter in accordance with their own customs — this is permissible. To stand in the court ranks, however, and hold a post in the Ministry of Rites — this is impermissible. I do not understand why the Secretariat of State proposed such a thing. This is truly absurd.”