CH 2

Zhu Yuanzhang’s voice was hoarse as he asked,” How do you fare in comparison to Tuoba Feng?”

Yunqi was initially startled by this before he understood. He didn’t dare reply in haste, the cogs of his thoughts went full speed ahead as he quickly deliberated on the reason for Zhu Yuanzhang to ask such a question.

Yunqi replied,” In terms of leadership capabilities, military strategies, valor, and ferocity in battle – Yunqi is inferior to Feng [1].”

[1] Yunqi is referring to Tuoba Feng (拓跋锋)by his given name. fēng (锋) which means the point of a spear, the edge of a blade. The Vanguard. There’s some foreshadowing in how Zhu Di named him.

Zhu Yuanzhang narrowed his eyes, his gaze sharp and incisive as he swept a glance outwards. The next moment he chuckled, “Military strategy being inferior? Not necessarily.” Zhu Yuanzhang’s dry and withered old face revealed a trace of a playful smile,” In terms of military strategies and tactics, you are Xu Da’s son…”

Yunqi’s interruption was executed perfectly, as he demurred,” Not every offspring from a military family is a tiger cub [2], let alone…”

[2] This is a reference to the old saying, hǔ fù wú quǎn zǐ (虎父无犬子), which translates to “a tiger would never bear a dog offspring/son”. This means that someone of a high caliber would not have useless children. He’s indirectly implying he’s the useless dog’s son/offspring. Remember that Xu Da was one of Zhu Yuanzhang’s generals, who the latter had killed during the 17th year of Hongwu (about 8 years ago.) This implies that the Emperor wasn’t above reminding him about his father, who he had killed, and he expected complete loyalty from Yunqi after he’d entered the Jinyiwei at a young age.

PS,  Xu Yunqi doesn’t seem to be a real historical character, at least he isn’t listed in the wiki under Xu Da’s offspring.

At that moment, Yunqi’s thoughts flashed through his mind like lightning, acutely grasping the fleeting traces of Zhu Yuanzhang’s way of thinking. Perhaps he was planning to use this topic to elicit more of the Remonstrance officials’[3] mistakes. Or perhaps to discuss establishing a new heir to the throne? Or perhaps both?

[3] yán guān (言官) Remonstrance officials are mainly in charge of supervision and advice to the Emperor, they regulate and admonish the Emperor. They were generally not of high rank, but their political status was significant. In ancient Chinese society, to effectively supervise officials at all levels from the central to the local, the rulers attached great importance to the construction of supervisory institutions and systems. They were under the Remonstrance Bureau (言院).

Yunqi smiled knowingly, and changed the topic,” However, in terms of critical thinking and analysis, Feng isn’t my match.”

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said,” What’s the value in critical thinking and analysis? It’s merely used to show off your eloquence for a while, and does not benefit the situation nor does it solve issues.”

Yunqi smiled, and responded,” Aside from displaying critical thinking. While is only a small talent, and isn’t sufficient for one to be proud of, what Yunqi relies on – is merely his ability to investigate cases.”

Zhu Yuanzhang slowly nodded his head in satisfaction. Yunqi stated,” Feng isn’t adept at discovering those minute traces and clues [4]. This subject is.”

[4] zhū sī mǎ jì (蛛丝马迹) – literally refers to spider silk and stove horse (a type of insect), one can infer things such as the location of a stove in the house by where you can find traces of these insects. Refers to the faint traces and clues left behind.

Zhu Yuanzhang declared,” Aside from displaying critical thinking, you also show resourcefulness and restraint. If the ministers of the Remonstrance bureau could understand this concept, they would not dwell on the trivial details all day. Fetch the punishment rod [5].

[5] tínɡ zhànɡ (廷杖) A punishment in ancient China that involves flogging or caning a courtier at court in the presence of the other officials. Either a punishment whip or a bamboo board is used. In prior dynasties, it was less seldomly used, but during the Ming Dynasty, it became the Emperor’s usual means of punishing courtiers. It is both the name of the punishment rod or whip, i.e. a court rod/cane, and also the name of the punishment.

Yunqi glanced towards Rongqing, the other guard standing within the Chamber, and gesticulated with his finger. The latter bowed respectfully toward Zhu Yuanzhang.

The two men turned their backs to one another and strode six steps forward, their footwork orderly as they stopped precisely by the sides of the walls. Both of them bowed respectfully before simultaneously taking down the punishment rods [5] from the wooden racks. They then spun around and walked back towards the hall.

The other four Jinyiwei came forward with ease of long practice; two grabbed the person’s hands, and the other two restrained his legs as they firmly pressed the Left Remonstrance official on the ground. 

“Emperor!” The Remonstrance official did not struggle, only raising his head to holler fiercely,” While our Great Ming dynasty [6] had its beginnings in the wilderness! But the rites and laws established by our ancestors cannot be disregarded! The posthumous title of “He Tian Jing De [7]” is neither virtuous nor wise!” 

[6] dà míng(大明）The Ming Dynasty. 

[7] hé tiān jìng dé (和天敬德) lit.” With Heaven Respect and Morality” the posthumous title seems to equate the Crown Prince’s morality and worthiness of veneration to Heaven. The real Zhu Biao’s actual post-humous title ended up being yì wén tài zǐ (懿文太子) which refers to beautiful/gorgeous essays/literary works.

“The Emperor has studied the classics extensively, but neglected the teachings of Confucius and Mencius!”

The Remonstrance official’s eyes were wide and staring, and he looked extremely terrifying as he panted incessantly before howling,” How would you face the world’s learned scholars?! Emperor, I fear that after a Thousand Autumns and Ten thousand generations [8], the Crown Prince would be reviled by his countrymen! Emperor, please reconsider!”

[8] qiān qiū wàn shì (千秋万世) It means throughout the ages or a very long time. It can also be a euphemism for the death of the Emperor, so the official is saying after the Emperor dies, people will revile his son for the disrespectful and improper posthumous title. 

Hearing such words fall upon one’s ears, even Yunqi couldn’t keep from sweating on the Remonstrance official’s behalf. He really couldn’t understand the distinction between four more or four fewer words… But what he did understand was, with these four additional words, that Remonstrance official probably wouldn’t be able to escape being flogged forty times with the punishment rod.

As expected, Zhu Yuanzhang said,” Zhuang Lu, forty strokes of the rod.”

Zhuang Lu… that’s right, it was exactly this person that Tuoba Feng had asked him to be more lenient with during his beating. Yunqi planted himself firmly on the ground, with one leg in front of the other. Rongqing saw his signal out of the corner of his eye, as the two men began to strike one after another, hitting the Remonstrance official’s back heavily. Zhuang Lu immediately cried out miserably!

The sounds of Zhuang Lu’s pained howls reverberated around the chamber, Zhu Yuanzhang turned a deaf ear to it and continued approving and annotating the memorials.

After the forty strokes of the rod had been carried out, Zhuang Lu was on his last breath, laid out on the ground. The expression in his eyes was dazed, and he kept muttering unintelligibly, repeating something over and over again.

The Remonstrance official’s inner and outer thighs and his back were covered in blood splatters, and beneath him was a large pool of blood. Two Jinyiwei came forward to drag him out, and the other two Jinyiwei each took a piece of black cloth, one to the right and the other to the left, as they wiped down the punishment rods. The red lacquered iron rods shone with a renewed luster.

Zhu Yuanzhang folded the memorial in hand, and said coldly,”Fang Xiaoru.”

The other young civil official was completely aloof and indifferent as he replied,” This subject is present.”

Zhu Yuanzhang said,” Do you acknowledge your crime?”

Fang Xiaoru replied,” Since times immemorial, the son has always inherited and continued his father’s career. This subject does not know what crime he is guilty of.”

Zhu Yuanzhang said,” Your crime is to none other than to meddle in Zhen [10]’s family affairs. Was this memorial written by you?!”

[10] zhèn (朕) – how the emperor would refer to himself and can only be used by the emperor to refer to himself (think of it as the imperial “I”) – there are many other self-pronouns that Emperors use, but generally, they are solitary (e.g. 孤, 寡人, etc.), hence I won’t be using the imperial ‘We’.

Fang Xiaoru replied solemnly,” It is indeed written by this subject’s own hand!”

Zhu Yuanzhang bit out angrily,” Censor-in-chief of the Censorate [11], even the Supervising Secretary of the Six Offices of Scrutiny [12] does not dare to involve himself in Zhen’s family matters, this is a crime. Forty strokes of the punishment rod!”

[11] dōu chá yuàn (都察院) is the Censorate, and yù shǐ (御史) is the Censor in Chief. The Censorate is one of the central government agencies during the Ming and Qing dynasties and served in a supervisory capacity.

[12] liù kē (六科) The Six Offices of Scrutiny , gěi shì zhōng (给事中)  Supervising Secretary

The Son of Heaven who had one foot in the grave shouted loudly, which immediately triggered a violent coughing fit. The eunuch hastily scurried over to rub his back in a soothing manner. Yunqi came to his senses and stood firmly as he began to strike.

The moment the punishment rods fell, the expected miserable screams didn’t sound. Fang Xiaoru gritted his teeth to forcibly endure the beating. Yunqi secretly mocked this fool in his heart… When the punishment rod strikes a person, if said person tenses their entire body, the internal injuries will resultingly be more severe; it is only if someone relaxes their muscles that will they be able to get away with more superficial injuries which would recover in days.

After Fang Xiaoru endured this flogging, both his legs would probably be ruined.  Yunqi inwardly felt that it was a pity. Yet, this name sounded somewhat familiar. As he landed the 5th hit, Yunqi finally recalled who this person was, and he immediately paled. He hurriedly changed his stance and shot a meaningful look toward Rongqing.

Rongqing didn’t lift his head at all, instead focusing all his attention on Fang Xiaoru’s back. He exerted his full strength and landed the blows unceasingly.

Yunqi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at this. He reduced the strength exercised for each blow, and feigned his strikes by mimicking a heavy hammer striking a broken drum – the resulting sound was very loud, but the strength used (and therefore the impact) was minimized. Like the previous one, Fang Xiaoru was still beaten to the point of being covered with blood, as he sprawled crookedly on the ground – he’d already fainted, and was immediately taken out of the court by the Jinyiwei.

Yunqi sighed, these scholars really can’t endure being beaten.

That afternoon, Zhu Yuanzhang did not speak further. Yunqi stood until the drums sounded again. He and Rongqing walked out together and returned to the courtyard.

Yunqi lifted his leg and put it on the bench, as he took the rice that Rongqing had ladled, and said,” Why is your eyesight so lousy…” 

Rongqing didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as he replied,”I saw your earlier standing stance, so I thought that this scholar could be beaten. How would I know?”

Yunqi said,” Forget it, he’s already been beaten. You know what? The allegory ‘The affairs of the world often start very small, but will eventually become a catastrophe’ was written by him. Fang Xiaoru is Song Lian’s disciple who passed the civil examinations and writes excellent literary essays.”

Rongqing felt bewildered and added more food into Yunqi’s bowl as he replied,” Never heard that before. Writing useless nonsense like that, no wonder he got beaten.”

Yunqi laughed at this, and said to himself,” You hit him hard, I hit him lightly. I wonder what’s the situation after he was dragged out.”

The former abruptly recalled their uneven exertion of force earlier. This gifted scholar might end up lame in one leg and would have to hop about to get around. Rongqing sputtered out a mouthful of rice  as he burst out laughing,” I beat him so ruthlessly, he will probably be lame.”

Yunqi bantered,” Doesn’t he still have another leg? The talented scholar can do flying kicks at people.” After which, his gaze met Rongqing’s, and they both roared with laughter.

The two men finished their meal and were just about to return to their own rooms. Yunqi didn’t see Tuoba Fang. Upon returning to his room, the previously blood-stained guard uniform was missing, he expected that it was Tuoba Feng who had taken it to wear, but he didn’t mind.

After waiting for a short while, until that moment when he lit a lamp, he suddenly heard a little eunuch’s shrill voice,” The Emperor summons the Jinyiwei’s Deputy Commander, Xu Yunqi.”

Yunqi frowned slightly, not knowing what had happened. If they were needed to take on an additional shift on short notice, it would be another guard who passed the message, why would a eunuch be tasked to come over?”

Yunqi followed him out of the courtyard and placed a small ingot of silver in his hands. He asked,” Little brother, why did the Emperor summon me?”

The little eunuch sneered as he sized Yunqi up, and then tugged his hand as he said,” Someone was wagging their tongue behind your back. The Deputy Commander must be extremely careful when replying to questions.”

Yunqi felt a little fearful, could it be that his killing of the Secretary of the Ministry of War was exposed? Accepting bribes is a serious crime! At that moment he was so shocked that he couldn’t speak. In his heart, he quickly considered more than ten ways of exonerating himself, but he realized that something was not right. Tuoba Feng would never sell him out. His heart calmed down significantly, as he approached the hall with some apprehension. He caught sight of Huang Zicheng standing with folded sleeves inside the hall, and Zhu Yunwen’s red eyes as he stood beside the dragon desk.

Tuoba Feng stood ramrod straight, dressed in Yunqi’s guard’s uniform. His sleeves were still wet, and since he was quite a lot taller, the uniform was clearly ill-fitting, revealing a small sliver of skin at his wrists.

Tuoba Feng shook his head very slowly in Yunqi’s direction.

Yunqi avoided Tuoba Feng’s gaze and exhaled once. He performed his obeisance and smiled slightly as he raised his head, looking toward Zhu Yunwen.

Zhu Yuanzhang spoke,” Xu Yunqi, since you are good at investigating cases. Zhen orders you to assist Grand Tutor Huang to find out who brought this book into the palace and gave it to Yunwen. Bringing things into the palace without approval is a serious crime.”

On top of the book was two pieces of shattered crystal.

Yunqi smiled,” Imperial Grandson, this subject would ask you- who was so audacious in the extreme to smuggle this book into the palace and deliver it to you?”

Zhu Yunwen bore with his indignation and lowered his head after a moment. 

Yunqi asked,” May this subject borrow this book?”

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, and the senior eunuch picked up the book and crystal pieces with both hands before handing them to Yunqi. Yunqi thought a moment before accepting the book.

Zhu Yuanzhang said,” Bring it back, investigate the matter, and uncover the truth within three days.”

Yunqi carelessly thumbed through the brand new pages of the book, and smiled as he replied,” This subject has already solved the case.”

Zhu Yuanzhang lifted his face from the memorial that he was reading, with a chilling look in his eyes.

Yunqi shook the book with a clatter, smiling slightly as he said,” This subject would like to ask the Grand Tutor, where was this book found?”

Huang Zicheng replied frostily,” The Imperial Grandson’s study.”

Yunzi said,” That’s it then. The Imperial Grandson must have obtained this book today.”

The inside of the hall was silent. Yunqi rose slowly as he spoke,” The study is the most likely place to be discovered. The Grand Tutor instructs the Imperial Grandson on his work in the study, from morning to evening – he doesn’t even have time to rest, what would he bring it to the study for?”

“If one wants to read this kind of book, one must hide them in their bedroom, perhaps under the pillow. The conjecture is that this book was so recently received, that he didn’t look at a single page before starting his homework. Thus, he had no choice but to hide it away in a flustered manner, unintentionally revealing the hidden truth.”

“All that is left is to summon all the people who entered the study before he began his homework. We’ll know everything once we ask.”

Huang Zicheng said,” How do you know that he has never read even a single page ?”

Yunqi lifted a corner of the first page, and shook it under the light, before saying,:” The pages of new books stick together and are not easy to flip through. One would need to use their saliva to wet it, and then it will be easy to turn the pages.”

“However, this book doesn’t have any fingerprints even on the first page. It must be that when he received the book, the Grand Tutor arrived even before he could take a peek.”

Yunqi shut the book, and then glanced over at Huang Zicheng,” When the Grand Tutor arrived at the study, who was with the Imperial Grandson?”

Huang Zicheng hadn’t expected Yunqi to admit to everything so easily, and said angrily,” Of course, it was you, Xu Yunqi! Who else would it be?!”

Yunqi returned the book with both hands, and said,” Then it is this subject’s mistake since there was no one else. This subject’s crime warrants death. Your Majesty, please punish me.”

Zhu Yuanzhang laughed heartily at this and threw the book onto the gold desk. He squinted his eyes assessingly for a moment, then nodded. He continued with an icy,” Forty strokes of the punishment rod.”

Zhu Yuanzhang said,” Yunwen, take your book back.”

Huang Zicheng frowned as he exclaimed,” Your Majesty!”

Zhu Yuanzhang said,” You may withdraw.”

Tuoba Feng exhaled deeply, as he turned to retrieve the punishment rod. Yunqi was still quite the hoodlum, nodding towards Zhu Yunwen to signal that it was fine. He then knelt facing Zhu Yuanzhang.

Yunqi’s gaze fell directly on the golden dragon boots below the golden desk, the golden dragons at the toe of the boot seemed to bare their fangs and brandish their claws.

Tuoba Feng braced himself with one foot in front of the other, as he picked up the pure steel punishment rod that weighed thirty catties [13].

[13] 1 catty or (斤) is about 600g, hence a 30 catty steel rod is about 18kg or 40 lbs.

One end of the punishment rod drew a scarlet arc through the air.

Zhu Yunwen’s shoulders hitched as he closed both eyes. 

_________________________________________________________________________

It was already night, the moon had risen above the palace wall. In the Jinyiwei courtyard, the Deputy Commander’s room.

Yunqi was naked, lying on his stomach on the bed. His back, his buttocks, and his inner and outer thighs were covered in wounds. 

Tuoba Feng picked up the medicine disc with one hand, using his fingers to pry it open. He rubbed the pungent black ointment with his fingertips, before continuing to run it onto Yunqi’s back.

Yunqi exhaled sharply, and groaned,” Lao-Ba…the tips of your fingers are too rough! Change with…Rongqing!”

Tuoba Feng put down the medicine disc and turned to leave. He didn’t see Rongqing after calling for him, but Tuoba Feng again entered the room like a gust of wind.

Tuoba Feng used his right hand to put a silk glove on his left hand, and said,” He can’t get away. You’ve already made your bets –  Did you know that the Emperor plans to establish Zhu Yunwen as the Crown Prince? Did you guess it? Today’s forty strokes of the punishment rod will become affection from those in high places [14]in the future.“

[14] wàn hù hóu  (万户侯) lit.”Marquis of 10,000 households” – that his fiefdom consists of this many households, a noble title. It is used to describe the most senior officials and nobility or can be used as an honorary title amongst the literati and officials.

Yunqi said angrily,” I had no such intentions!”

Tuoba Feng looked at Yunqi for a while, before nodding his head. He sat by his bedside, continuing to apply the ointment on Yunqi.

At the moment that Tuoba Feng applied the ointment, Yunqi cried out in pain, feeling extremely uncomfortable.

Tuoba Feng said,” This is a silk glove from the Western Regions,  it still hurts?”

Yunqi was unable to contain his anger, and only replied after some time,” You actually really hit me!”

Tuoba Feng said mockingly,” I thought that you wanted me to really hit you.”

Yunqi was both aggrieved and furious,” I will remember your actions today!”

Tuoba Feng’s hand didn’t stop its movements, as he whispered something, the pronunciation of the words was vague and indistinct.

Yunqi was dazed by the pain, and responded intermittently,” What did you say…in the Tujue language?”

Tuoba Feng didn’t reply, instead focusing on applying the medication. This ointment was indeed a miraculous prescription. When it was first applied, it was as painfully unbearable as being pricked by needles, but later after a while, it would bring a cooling sensation, and reduce the pain; It was extremely effective for treating external injuries.

Yunqi’s eyelids became heavy as a drowsy feeling swept over him. Tuoba Feng finished applying the ointment. That broad and large hand stroked the back of Yunqi’s shoulders and enjoyed the feeling of caressing him back and forth, along the side of his neck.

The silk gloves were incredibly smooth, Yunqi could vaguely feel the sensation of the silk touching his skin, and could even feel the warmth of Tuoba Feng’s palms through that ever-so-thin pair of gloves.

Tuoba Feng’s slender hands with their well-defined knuckles repeatedly caressed the outside of Yunqi’s neck. His thumb continuously rubbed at his ear lobe.

Yunqi had been caressed so much that his face and ears flushed red, and even his lower body had hardened, propped against the straw mat. He said,” What are you doing.”

Tuoba Feng stroked Yunqi’s face, gazing at him with great interest,” Turn to one side, let me have a look.”

Yunqi said,” Scram!”

Tuoba Feng said,” You were dragged back to the courtyard. Your knees are skinned and will require medicine to be applied.”

Yunqi’s entire face was suffused with red. At this time, under no circumstances would he turn around. He said,” No need.”

Tuoba Feng came forward to help Yunqi turn over. He placed his wrist under Yunqi’s neck but was mercilessly bitten by him. Yunqi raged,” Lao-Ba!”

Tuoba Feng tugged at the thin quilt and gently covered Yunqi’s body with it, before turning to go outside.

Yunqi was only semi-conscious at this time, before he fell asleep he heard the gurgling sounds of water from the outside. He knew that it was Tuoba Feng washing their clothes.

A profound silence prevailed over the courtyard, a round, bright moon shone on Tuoba Feng’s figure, who was only clad in a thin inner robe, seeming as clean and white as snow.

Tuoba Feng cleaned the guard uniforms and hung them up to dry. He took off the gloves and moved over to a low stool. Like a wolfhound, he sat before Yunqi’s bed. His hands pressed against the ground, his body swaying back and forth for a while. He thought for a while before he took out a small pouch with several small pieces of broken silver.

Tuoba Feng placed this little pouch under Yunqi’s pillow, carefully tucking it away.

Yunqi still lay unmoving on his stomach. His delicate and pretty face was plastered against the pillow, and his breathing was regular as he slumbered deeply.

Tuoba Feng’s face was expressionless, as he extended a hand to touch Yunqi’s lips. After a while, he simply unfastened his inner clothes and bared his upper body. He climbed onto the bed and mimicked Yunqi’s action, sprawling face down. He turned his head and moved his face very close – so close that their breaths intermingled, and fell asleep face to face with Yunqi.

Translator’s Note:

Chapter 2 wasn’t as hard as Chapter 1, and I’m still pretty intrigued. So let’s continue and see where this goes.

Isn’t the dynamic between MC and ML fun? It’s refreshing that ML seems to care for MC a lot, but he’s still going to beat the crap out of him. D: