CH 27

Wu Xi contemplated for a moment then answered: “What you are trying to say is, this sort of alliance is a hypocritical show of cordiality, neither coming from the heart nor lasting for a long time?”

In his head, Jing Qi quietly commended the promising young lad for being worthy of his teaching. Then, with a fan that appeared on his hand out of nowhere, he gave a tough smack — bam — on Wu Xi’s shoulder. Wu Xi already knew that the strength from this person’s arm was nowhere near powerful – even a strike like this was painless – thus he didn’t even bother to dodge and simply sat there to endure it. Then, with utmost patience, he finally asked: “Did I get it wrong?”

“No, you actually have hit the key point.” Jing Qi shook his head, seemingly very impressed and pleased with himself, “That kind of ‘alliance’ must not be trusted. There is a saying that goes ‘husband and wife are like birds from the same forest, yet they ought to part ways and fly separately in the face of imminent calamity,’ let alone the kind of ‘casual, short-lived affair’ like this…”

Wu Xi grimaced. Realizing that the expression written on this child’s face was clearly of disapproval, Jing Qi let out a soft cough and casually dismissed the matter: “It was just a metaphor. Just a metaphor⁠—”

As expected, Wu Xi took it to heart and gave a solemn response: “Husband and wife are together for a lifetime — why would you use unpleasant words like ‘birds from the same forest’ and even ‘part ways and fly separately” to compare them with?”

Jing Qi was too lazy to even bother arguing about these trifling matters, thus only waved his hand dismissively: “I was only using that as an example — it is not like what you thought. Just let that go in one ear and out the other.”

Wu Xi furrowed his brows — for some unknown reason, that offhand manner of Jing Qi made him feel rather dejected. However, since his mind was still wrapped around the subject Jing Qi had just touched upon, that one concern was then temporarily put aside as he resolved to bring it up again in the future and talk it through properly with the other man. 

After such a long time, Wu Xi had come to realize that this friend who first appeared to be able to giggle with anyone and always carried the kind of “going with the flow” demeanor was, in fact, someone who never took what others said to heart — on the surface, he would work fast to admit his fault but on the inside pay no heeds whatsoever, and once some time had passed, he would forget about it entirely.

The old-yet-still-ill-mannered Jing Qi gave his nose a few rubs and hastened to bring back the topic that seemed to become more and more irrelevant as further discussed: “You have also mentioned it just now, currying favors will not do, being each other’s kindred spirit is also out of the question — at most, the so-called alliance is only an agreement for both parties to synchronously advance and retreat. However, an agreement is not a rope — if one side acts in bad faith and forsakes their ally, there is nothing else to be done.”

Wu Xi’s brows were slightly knitted together as he thought to himself, these Da Qing people are really terrible — not only that they will act in bad faith after establishing an agreement but also fail to live up to their promises. 

Then he heard Jing Qi go on with his spill: “This ally of yours must not be those who just revel in the highs of victory but forsake you during times of misfortunes. You must not go a great length to painstakingly win an ally over just so that during critical times where support is needed, they can stab you in the back and let you put up a brave fight all by yourself.  Tell me, what would you do?”

Wu Xi remained silent for a while before shaking his head: “I will not form an alliance with that kind of person. All of my friends are people who are reliable and trustworthy. As for the matter between you and Helian Zhao, how are you going to handle it later on?”

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Jing Qi said through a smile: “I am going to teach you two little secrets: one is called coercion, and the other is enticement. The so-called coercion is, indeed, to grasp their weakness and bind them down, forcing them to be on the same boat with you. You have to make sure that if you die they will also perish, and that even if they are ruined, you still remain unscathed and happy — that is precisely the most superior level of coercion. It is even easier to entice them with the promises of gain. All that human beings ever desire are merely wealth, beauty, power, and pleasure. As long as you grant them high enough value for the bargaining chip, under this sky, there never exists a person who dares not to make a move, nor is there anything that cannot be accomplished.”

These words were beyond blatant — upon hearing such an utterance, Wu Xi only felt a wave of acidic water gushing backward from his stomach. No matter how long he had tried mulling over in his head, he still could not find the right words to refute — it was because Jing Qi indeed had made a valid point. 

After some time had passed, a soft sigh finally escaped his lips, and he asked: “Then, what are you doing that for? Is it also for wealth, beauty, power, and pleasure?” 

“If I were doing that for the sake of wealth, beauty, power, and pleasure, I would not have talked to you about all these things. Why is it not the case? This entire nation belongs to the hands of His Majesty — but doesn’t he just eat a portion for one man, sleeping on a bed for one person? No one has ever seen him sleeping in the carriage that goes around the capital city in the middle of the night.” A fluttering trace of a smile grazed Jing Qi’s lips as he narrowed his eyes out of habit; then he heaved a sigh,  rose to his feet, and gave his back a little stretch, “Just for the sake of staying alive.”

Wu Xi fell completely silent.

Right at that moment, Ping An entered the room to present a list of presents. He turned toward Jing Qi and spoke: “Master, please take a quick look at the wedding gifts for His Highness the Crown Prince and see if there is anything that is unfit.”

The Ministry of Rites and Imperial Household Department had been engaging in the preparations since His Majesty issued this decree, waiting for the auspicious date to arrive. It took them from the budding of spring until autumn to hassle through and be near completion — at last, the good hours were nigh. Jing Qi took the list from Ping An and ran his eyes over; once having confirmed that everything was within the bounds of proprieties, he nodded: “As long as the wedding gifts for His Highness don’t surpass those of his own brothers, it is fine being a tad more generous.”

Ping An nodded his head, indicating that he had understood.

As if something had just crossed his mind, Jing Qi turned towards Wu Xi and asked: “The Crown Prince is getting married next month — are the wedding gifts from your side all prepared?”

Wu Xi gave a nod: “I did hear about this, and have asked Nu A Ha to help me prepare. I told him to come to Ping An if there is anything that he is not certain about.”

Jing Qi replied in approval: “Just make sure that the degree of formality is befitting and the choices appear to conform to the conventional standards. The Crown Prince is also not going to trouble you over these sorts of things. Your status is special — you need not to show yourself.”

However, Wu Xi’s mind obviously had already drifted to an entirely different matter. He then inquired: “Didn’t the emperor already decide on the Crown Prince’s marriage since the early of this year?”

Jing Qi expounded his response: “The Crown Prince is the heir apparent to the throne, who will inherit this grand position and rule the nation in the future. There are a myriad of rules to follow for this marriage with the appointed Crown Princess. It has taken the Ministry of Rites a very long time to prepare. They even had to peruse the Yellow Calendar (1) carefully to find the auspicious day for the wedding — that explains why it had been elongated until this moment.”

“I understand. At our place,  there is just as much of a trouble whenever there is a marriage between the noble aristocrats. But…” Wu Xi furrowed his brows, “What is Miss Su supposed to do?”

Jing Qi blinked, neither able to react nor wrap his mind around the meaning behind the other person’s words: “Huh? What is it about her?”

Wu Xi immediately realized that his conversation with this person had just been an exchange of noises between a chicken and a duck, thus without any moment of hesitation, he firmly rebuked: “The Crown Prince treated Miss Su so good like that before, but now he wants to get married with another lady. Assume that he wants to wed someone else, but even so, for what reason did he have to go see Miss Su for the past half year?”

Once the words left his mouth, the young man frowned: “It is wrong for the Crown Prince to do such a thing.”

Jing Qi helplessly replied: “Then you go and tell him yourself.” 

Wu Xi stared at him with accusing eyes: “Are you the same?” 2

Jing Qi was stupefied, then thought to himself, What on earth does that have anything to do with me? Isn’t this tragically wronging others? In the end, he could only force a smile and deny: “When was I ever like that? How could you wrongfully accuse me…?”

“Master.” Before Jing Qi’s sentence was even finished, Ji Xiang had already walked in and handed over an invitation card: “It is from the Young Marquis, saying that today is the Qixi Festival (2), just in time to chance upon the ‘Orchid Chamber’. He beseeches you to grant him the honor of your presence tonight.”

That invitation card was indeed very special — its entire covers were wrapped in rose-colored silk, with floral designs meticulously and delicately embroidered around the edge; once the card was opened, a burst of fragrance immediately assailed one’s nostrils. With just one glance, Jing Qi could tell right away what it was — right at that moment, Jing Qi felt that this damned, jinxing brat Ji Xiang came in precisely to give him a slap on the face. 

Since Wu Xi had a very keen sense of smell, his nose was instantly tickled by the invasion of that aroma, thus he could not help but reach one hand over to give it a few rubs while gazing at the card with an inquisitive gaze. But after all, he was still a tactful and polite person who knew when not to cross the line — knowing that the item belonged to the other person, he thus decided not to ask much.

Then he heard Ji Xiang go on: “The Young Marquis also said, if the Young Sorcerer is willing to grant him a kind favor, he would like to invite you to come along. This opportunity only occurs once every three years — last time when it happened, the Young Sorcerer was still of young age, thus certainly had yet to attend. If you miss it this year, you will have to wait for the next three years. The Young Marquis added that he had specifically reserved a private room already.”

This He Yunxing is indeed afraid that all under heaven are too free from chaos!

It was only then Wu Xi decided to ask: “What place did he invite us to go to?” 

With a beaming face, Ji Xiang explained: “Our nation Da Qing hosts the Imperial Examination once every three years to select talents; everytime, there will be a newly appointed Zhuang Yuan (3) in civil services and one with military talent, who will enter the court and become the Son of Heaven’s disciples. You are familiar with Master Lu, am I correct? He is the renowned Zhuang Yuan of the Civil Services Examination. But, Young Sorcerer, do you know what kind of person the Zhuang Yuan in rouge is?”

Wu Xi vaguely understood the reason why that invitation card was nothing near being ordinary. He then shifted his gaze to Jing Qi, only to see that “the man of moral integrity” was avoiding his eyes in embarrassment, his head lowered for a sip of tea.

A smile grazed Wu Xi’s lips as he answered: “Last time, His Highness the Crown Prince said that person was the Lady of the Moon.”

“Exactly.”  Ji Xiang’s face was radiant with joy, “Those Ladies of the Moon have all been ‘brought to glory’ by the hands of the noblemen. In our capital city, there is a tradition at the end of every year where the Lady of the Moon will offer her singing on the Wang Yue River. However, if there weren’t already thousands of those beautiful maidens out there, the number would at least be around eight hundreds. Due to fear of seeing these “talents” buried under the mud, they decided to organize this event once every three years. At the beginning, it was named as ‘All Flowers Banquet’; but later on, His Majesty felt that the three words ‘All Flowers Banquet’(4) were too coarse, hence with his golden mouth and jade words, he changed it to ‘Night Creation of the Orchid Chamber’, which means…”

Ji Xiang’s voice came to an abrupt halt — after all, he was not a person of fineness and grace; even after a long time had passed, he was still unable to construe the hidden meaning behind this allusion.

Jing Qi said with a smile: “Isn’t there a line that says, ‘there stays a dazzling maiden in the orchid chamber. Her room is nigh yet the person is far: like poison, this pain seeps through my entrails’? (5) It is simply a casual, teasing remark from His Majesty during his time of youth, and that is all.”

Ji Xiang grinned, "Yes, yes, that is exactly what it is about. All the procuresses from those brothels, along with a handful of the performance troupes coming from other places that have yet to gain popularity, will bring their young ladies, taking advantage of this opportunity to showcase their beauty and talent.  Several noblemen who keep courtesans at their residence and are willing to take them out for the public to appreciate will also attend. This is a vibrant and glamorous event, blazing with brilliant purples and beautiful reds — if these maidens truly stand out and catch the eye of the nobility, who knows, perhaps they will end up being the future Lady of the Moon three years later.”

“Are you saying that all the most beautiful ladies in the entire capital city are partaking in this occasion?” 

“Not necessarily…”  

Ji Xiang had not finished his sentence, yet Jing Qi already interrupted with a motion of his hand: “They are only a group of prostitutes and performers who are there to offer entertainment to those pleasure-seeking people. Which proper lady brought up in a respectable household would ever brazenly stand in front of the large crowd, allowing others to point fingers and whisper frivolous remarks about her appearance like that? These people are not any different from the birds and cat pets raised at home. Don’t listen to any of the gibberish from this brat Ji Xiang — we are merely following everyone else and playing along as the occasion arises. We are going to have some moments of fun, and that is all. If you are willing to come tonight, I will take you to join in this lively scene.” 

Wu Xi was in deep silence for a while before asking: “Did Miss Su also participate in that?” 

Ji Xiang responded: “Isn’t that an unwritten rule? All the Ladies of the Moon have to participate, or where else could they dig up an opportunity to catch the eyes of these noblemen and receive the help to climb up to their splendor?”

Jing Qi looked at Wu Xi, a faint smile ghosting over his lips. 

It then immediately dawned on Wu Xi’s mind: all this time, this person, Jing Qi, who had just been beating around the bush without explaining anything explicitly, was actually borrowing this conversation to respond to the comments Wu Xi had just made regarding the crown prince: Su Qingluan was simply a public plaything — she might have been elevated to a slightly higher peak of glory, which made her appear to be of greater rarity and value. Apart from that, there was nothing else to be mentioned, let alone being compared with the formal, legitimate status of the crown prince’s future wife. One could not be married to two wives; however, nobody had ever forbidden a married man to play with the birds and cats. 

How lowly or noble one’s status was, all because they had been awash in the dazzling and voluptuous grandeur of wealth and fame.

But “playing along as the occasion arises” — Wu Xi found those words hardly acceptable.

After a moment of silence, he finally nodded: “Alright, I will come and look for you tonight.”

----- End of Chapter 27 -----

Translator’s note:

(1) Yellow Calendar (黃曆): Most of the contents of this calendar deals with what is suitable to do on each day. Some Chinese families still follow these days for wedding ceremonies, funerals, etc. The most common use is in choosing a wedding date. 

(2) Qixi Festival (七夕) is a Chinese festival celebrating the annual meeting of the two lovers, the cowherd, Niulang, and the weaver girl, Zhinü, in mythology. It falls on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month on the Chinese calendar.

(3) Zhuang Yuan (状元) is the top scorer in the palace examination (highest rank of the Imperial examination system).

(4) The combined word 群芳 can be translated as either “all flowers” or “all beauties” (beauty ~ flower). That’s why the emperor thinks such a name for the event might be too vulgar.

(5) Quoted from the lyrics written by Sima Xiangru (司馬相如), called Phoenix Courtship (鳳求凰/Feng Qiu Huang). Later, it was made into a zither melody.