CH 4

It wasn’t just the Zhang family’s matron that was got a shock – the other people who liked to gossip about Chang Er were all dumbfounded, not to mention scared. They’d denounced Chang Er as a loose woman who had been abandoned by her illicit lover without a thought for years; who knew that she had been favoured by the Son of Heaven? And her bastard son – he was actually the Emperor’s son…

“Greetings to her Grace the Imperial Concubine, and greetings to his Highness the Prince! May you both live for a thousand thousand years!” the chief cried. Ever the opportunist, he made a show of kneeling reverently, following the Imperial Commissioner’s example.

At this, everyone hurriedly knelt and kowtowed as well, shivering slightly in fear.

Chang Er finally got her breath back. She looked at the people kneeling before her, and had to pinch herself hard to stop herself from grinning like a Cheshire cat.

“My Lord Imperial Commissioner, you may rise,” she said, in a reserved tone.

The Imperial Commissioner said his thanks and rose to his feet. The armoured guards behind him also righted themselves, but the villagers still knelt, not daring to make a sound.

“My house is very plain and crude, I hope my Lord doesn’t… will not pay any mind,” Chang Er said, making an effort to smile in a reserved manner. She racked her brain for the few elegant phrases she knew the nobility used, and invited the Imperial Commissioner into the house to sit.

“My name is Di Yeqing, and I am the one of his Majesty’s royal guards,” Imperial Commissioner Di said. “Niangniang can just address me by name.” Di Yeqing looked to be around twenty odd years old, and the green material of his martial outfit was plain, with no motifs on it. A sword with a gold-edged ebony sheath hung at his waist, and he had a piercing gaze. He looked to be a martial arts master.

The Emperor’s search for the lost princes was done on an urgent basis, and the moment one was found, the Emperor’s orders were that he be sent back to the palace immediately. As such, Di Yeqing intended to leave with them today.

“Lord Di, how can you be sure that my son is of royal blood?” Chang Er asked. She had calmed down by this time, and now that her head was clearer, there were some things she needed explained.

“The ministers of the Imperial Court have investigated this matter for some time. Niangniang, please have a look,” Di Yeqing said. He took out a piece of parchment that was covered with dense writing, stamped with a personal seal, and had lots of handprints on it, evidencing that it had been reviewed countless times. It actually looked rather like a document with an accused person’s confession.

Chang Er looked down at the parchment briefly. “I can’t read,” she said, after a pause.

Di Yeqing was silent for a moment. He then kept the parchment, and explained to Chang Er the investigation process in a low voice.

Chang Qi looked at the neighbours who were still kneeling outside the door with a subtle sense of satisfaction. He had previously boasted that his father would come collect him with carriage and horses, and that he would live a life of wealth and luxury thereafter – all his baseless boasting had actually come true in an instant!

“Xiao Qi ah… aiyoh!” Chang Qi’s aunt exclaimed. She had been trying to pull his cousin Chang Jiabao and sidle up to him, but was immediately blocked by a guard. The guard drew his sword, and gestured to her to step back. “I am the the Prince’s aunt, and I want to speak to him,” the aunt said indignantly.

The guard was entirely unmoved. He moved the sword closer to her, and the silent threat was as clear as if it had been spoken. Chang Qi’s uncle quickly came forward and pulled his wife to the side with a sharp glare, warning her not to speak another word.

The chief, who was also still kneeling, wanted to raise his head to check on the situation, but caught sight of Zhang You’de out of the corner of his eye, and got a huge shock. He had helped Zhang You’de in his attempt to marry Chang Er, who was now revealed to be one of the Emperor’s wives, and the memory made him feel like his head was in danger of being separated from his body. He hurriedly signalled to him with his eyes to ask him to leave.

Zhang You’de harboured similar thoughts. When Chang Er and Chang Qi left the house to get on the horse carriage, that overconfident young disciple of the Jingang Sect was gone without a trace.

Chang Er and Chang Qi didn’t have many possessions, and so just packed a few sets of clothes as luggage. Chang Qi ran to a spot at the base of the wall, and dug out a little bottle where he stored his savings. These were what remained of his ill-gotten gains. He poured out all the money that was in the bottle, and stuffed them into his sock.

The exquisitely ornamented carriage was pulled by a magnificent chestnut horse. The carriage itself was shaped like an octagon, and auspicious fragrance sachets hung at every corner, their refreshing scent drifting into the carriage with the breeze. The servant girls waiting on them wore jade green dresses, with their hair neatly looped on their left and right side. One servant girl came forward to support Chang Er with her gaze respectfully lowered.

“Stop holding me back – we’ve fed them for free for so long, and now that they’ve made it big, they need to return our kindness!” Chang Qi’s aunt struggled free from her husband’s grasp, and made a beeline for Chang Qi and Chang Er, who were preparing to board the carriage. “Sister-in-law, you’re just going to go like this?” In the very least, she wanted to let the Imperial Commissioner give her a thousand or so taels of silver, and also get a good job in the government for her husband.

Chang Er turned around, looking silently at her sister-in-law, and then at her brother. That year, when she had been offered as a gift to service a mysterious nobleman, her brother had not done anything to stop this, and thereafter, when the nobleman left, he had been handsomely compensated for her sacrifice. She owed Chang Sheng absolutely nothing.

The atmosphere turned cold for a while. Then, Chang Sheng slapped his wife, his face purple with anger, and told her to shut up. He turned to address Chang Er. “When you get to the capital, write back to let know you arrived safely.”

“Nn,” Chang Er acknowledged. She picked Chang Qi up and boarded the carriage.

“Chang Sheng, you’re pretty clever – if we maintain a relationship with an Imperial concubine, our family will definitely see better days,” Chang Qi’s aunt said, suddenly realizing this benefit.

Her husband said nothing, but continued to gaze at the horse carriage shrinking in the distance, until it disappeared from sight.

“This humble slave is named Biyun, and I will be the one attending to your needs on this journey. If there’s anything you require, please do not hesitate to tell me,” the green-clad little servant girl said. She was seated on the carriage step, the one used to board the horse carriage.

“Got it. I don’t have anything I need at the moment, so you can take a break,” Chang Er sat ramrod straight in the horse carriage and gestured to dismiss Biyun.

“Certainly,” Biyun said. She moved to sit at the space just behind the curtains.

This horse carriage was very big, and the interior was separated into two sections. The front section was separated from the larger back section by curtains.

Chang Er stretched out her neck to check  that Biyun had really left, and upon confirming this, sank into a more relaxed posture, looking excitedly around the carriage. She grabbed one of Chang Qi’s hands, and said in a small voice, “Son, I’m an Imperial concubine now! Hehehe…”

“Hehehe, and I’m a prince now!” Chang Qi grinned like Cheshire cat, lying down on the cushions and kicking out his legs. He stared at the magnificently ornamented ceiling of the carriage, his spirits soaring higher and higher. He got up and started poking around the carriage, touching this and that.

The whole horse carriage was thickly cushioned, and because the weather was hot, soft bamboo mats had been attentively placed in the carriage as well. Incense burners and books were displayed on a wooden bracket was built into the carriage wall, and it all looked very elegant.

The only thing was, after searching high and low, there didn’t seem to be any snacks anywhere. Chang Qi furrowed his brows. He had seen the horse carriage used by the wife of the head of the Jingang Sect, and there were always many snacks on board. Every time she came to the farmlands, she would give him some snacks to eat.

It seemed to Chang Qi that this horse carriage was nice to look at, but wasn’t really prepared with its occupants’ needs in mind.

“Since the Emperor knew where we were, why didn’t he bother with us all this time?” Chang Qi asked. After the initial excitement had passed, he suddenly thought of this question.

“He probably forgot about me. I’m not even sure why he suddenly remembered…” Chang Er pursed her lips. Now that she thought about it, she felt rather unsettled.

The Imperial Commissioner Di Yeqing generally held himself aloof from them, so Chang Er had to call Biyun in, and asked her about the situation in the palace.

Biyun was one of the palace maids, and she didn’t know anything about why the Emperor had suddenly called them to the palace.

“The Emperor’s harem organizational structure is like this – there’s the Empress right at the top, then in descending order of status, you have two Guifei, four Fei, nine Pin, nine Jieyu, and nine Meiren. Below that, there’s the Baolin, Yvnv, and Cainv. For these last three, there’s no limit on the number that the Emperor can have,” Biyun said. She went on to give some basic information about the palace to Chang Qi and Chang Er – at the moment, the Emperor’s harem had many vacancies; if you were ranked as a Jieyu and above, you could raise your own children, but below that, you would have to let your child be raised by one of the higher-ranking concubines.

On hearing this, Chang Er immediately became anxious. If she could not get a high enough position, her Xiao Qi would no longer be her son…

Stressed about this issue, Chang Er’s appetite was very poor for the next few days. “Little bratty bastard, this old mother of yours has some regrets now. Let’s not enter the palace,” she said.

“Aren’t you a heavenly fairy? Don’t be scared,” Chang Qi said. He tickled his mother playfully, and put a sweet into her mouth.

Sweets always had the effect of improving one’s spirits, and Chang Er pulled her son into her arms, gratified. “Where did you get this sweet?”

“I got it from a jiejie who sells tofu in town*,” Chang Qi said, without batting an eyelid.

T/N: “Selling tofu” is an euphemism for the sex trade in Chinese. Jiejie is a common form of address for an older female who is still a young lady. The direct translation of jiejie is “older sister”.

“A tofu seller? I haven’t heard you mention her before,” Chang Er mumbled half to herself.

Chang Qi laughed happily. Xiaoru had once told him, when people went to a brothel, they were there to eat tofu*, so she could be said to be a tofu seller… right?

T/N: “Eating tofu” is an euphemistic way of saying that you had intimate relations with someone. It doesn’t necessarily mean sex – touching someone intimately (with or without consent) is also counted as “eating tofu”.

After being bumped around in the horse carriage for ten odd days, Chang Qi wasn’t able to walk properly when he got off the carriage. He had the sensation that the ground was still swaying even though he was on solid ground.

The palace gate was so high that you had to tilt your head backward in order to see its apex. The words “Bai Hu” were gilded in gold letters on the crimson tablet. This was the western palace gate. There were three other gates in the south, north and east, called the Zhuque gate, the Xuanwu gate, and the Qinglong gate respectively. Since they entered from the Bai Hu gate, they were probably going straight to the Hougong*.

*T/N: The Hougong is the part of the palace that houses the Emperor’s harem. Think the Forbidden City in Beijing.  I refuse to use the word harem to describe the Hougong because the usual image people have of a harem is a bunch of women stuffed together in one place, when that’s not it in Chinese culture. For the higher ranking concubines, they each have their own palace.

An old eunuch came out to greet them, and they were sent to a palace on a palanquin.

“This is Qingping Palace, the residence of concubines who have yet to be assigned a rank,” the eunuch said. “If I may trouble Niangniang and Dianxia* to stay here for the time being? Once his Majesty has confirmed your rank, you will be able to move out.” Even though the eunuch’s words were courteous, there was no sincerity in his voice at all.

*T/N: Niangniang is the formal address for a concubine, and Dianxia is the formal address for a prince. It’s the Chinese equivalent of Your Highness / Your Grace etc.

“The High Priest is waiting. Let’s get Dianxia changed into fresh clothes,” Di Yeqing said quietly to the old eunuch. He had followed them over to the palace.

“Certainly,” the old eunuch said. He seemed to  be in awe of Di Yeqing, and agreed immediately.

In addition to Biyun, there were two young eunuchs and a palace maid stationed in Qingping Palace to wait on them. Chang Qi, who was still rather unsteady on his feet, was hustled off to wash up and change into a light-coloured brocade robe.

This wasn’t as high quality or elaborate as the usual outfit worn by a prince, but it was still much nicer than the usual coarse peasant garb that he wore. Chang Qi had a handsome little face, and looked absolutely adorable in the light-coloured robe, his long black hair combed neatly and fastened with a blue hair tie, with a matching blue belt at his waist.

Everyone liked looking at beautiful things, and eunuchs were no exception. When the old eunuch saw Chang Qi all dolled up in his new clothes, his expression couldn’t help but soften. “Dianxia, this way, please,” he said, a much kindlier look on his face.

Di Yeqing took Chang Qi straight to Zhanghua Pavilion. From afar, he could see a man standing tall in the very centre of Zhanghua Pavilion. The man was clad in a wide-sleeved, cloud-patterned huafu with a long train that extended far behind him like a peacock’s tail feathers. The sight was truly beautiful.

“High Priest,” Di Yeqing said, by way of greeting. He knelt, and all the palace staff behind him knelt as well.

The High Priest turned around. His eyes lit up as he looked at Chang Qi, who was positioned in front of everyone. He took hold of Chang Qi’s little hand in his pale, slender one.

Chang Qi noticed that there was a round stone next to the High Priest that was about the size of a millstone. The stone was translucent, and had a blue cast to it. This was the Dragonstone, which had the ability to verify if someone was of royal blood. Whilst Chang Qi was absorbed in looking at the stone, the High Priest suddenly produced a small knife, and made a small cut in Chang Qi’s finger before he could react.

“Ah!” Chang Qi yelled in shock. A drop of his blood fell on the Dragonstone, and it immediately glowed with a burst of blue light. The light in the stone undulated, as if there were a dragon curving around and howling inside the stone.

“He is of royal blood,” the High Priest announced. He bent his head to look at the little boy. “You’re called Chang Qi?”

Chang Qi licked his injured finger, and nodded, looking warily at the High Priest.

“Moving forward, your name will be Chen Ziqi,” the High Priest said, smiling slightly. Chen was the royal family name.

Thus ended this myserious ceremony. Chen Ziqi went back to Qingping Palace utterly confused. The guards went with Di Yeqing to report back to the Emperor, and the old eunuch was nowhere to be found. The only person accompanying Chen Ziqi was a young eunuch.

Zhanghua Pavilion was some distance from Qingping Palace, but without a palanquin, Chen Ziqi only had the option of walking back.

To hell with this prince thing! It was not prestigious at all; he’d gotten his finger cut, his blood let, and now he had to walk back himself! As he passed a remote garden, he couldn’t help but vent his frustration on a rock, kicking it into the flower patch.

“Tweet!” A pleasant, crisp chirp sounded from where the rock landed.

Chen Ziqi pressed aside the flowers curiously, and saw a round, fluffy little red chick, glaring ferociously at him with its wings flared.

—

Author’s note: Mini-scene

Qiqi: Yo~ A chicken?

Birdie gong: Yo~ You’re not happy to see your husband? (⊙v⊙)

Qiqi: Of course I’m happy! I get to eat chicken soup tonight!

Birdie gong: Tweet?