CH 21

“It’s only for women cultivators?” Chen Ziqi thought about what Berry Brown would look like as a girl, and a cold shiver immediately travelled down his back. “Then if he succeeds, doesn’t that mean he’ll be like Fuxi and the other eunuchs?”

“… …” Dan Yi ignored him and gestured for Linghe to leave them.

“Berry Brown’s having a hard time, isn’t he? No wonder he’s dark* and skinny,” Chen Ziqi said. He snatched Dan Yi’s half-finished tea and drank it in a few noisy gulps, then wiped his mouth. “We have to help him.”

*T/N: I felt I should explain that the reference to being dark isn’t racist – being dark in ancient China was associated with working in the sun for long periods of time, and therefore also associated with having a hard life. Berry Brown’s mother likely made him practice his martial arts in the sun for a long time, or often punished him by making him stand in the sun (a very common punishment in ancient China, by the way, and also a punishment that even my school carried out when I was a kid! It’s not allowed any more, of course.).

Berry Brown and Ah Mu were his brothers from another mother. He hadn’t even achieved anything yet, and his brother was about to die of abuse! His efforts to feed him lunch would have all gone to waste!

Dan Yi looked at the empty cup that Chen Ziqi thrust back toward him, then at Chen Ziqi, who looked like he was raring to go fight a mighty battle. “What are you intending to do?” he asked.

“When I was living in Jiuru Town, I had a sworn brother called Da Niu. His mother died when he was very young, and his dad remarried after that. His stepmother was really vicious. She beat him every day, and Da Niu really didn’t want to go on living this miserable life. Xiao Chen ge came up with an idea to steal her corset, then use it to spread salacious rumours about her…” Chen Ziqi said proudly. It always gave him great pride to speak of his valiant deeds.

Dan Yi stared at him blankly. Wasn’t this just a cheap tactic?!

“What do you think happened next?” Chen Ziqi guffawed. “Da Niu’s dad beat the stepmother every day, and she didn’t have energy to beat Da Niu any more.”

“But what if the truth comes out?” Dan Yi asked, furrowing his brows. Cheap tactics like these were usually seen through very easily.

“Then let it come out. So long as we’ve already got our revenge, it doesn’t matter,”  Chen Ziqi said, sitting with an ankle over his knee. He started to think about how to help Berry Brown. Cheng Jieyu was his birth mother, so it wasn’t that easy to think of a solution.

As they were talking, an eunuch came in, saying that the Emperor had requested Chen Ziqi’s presence in Zichen Hall.

“Huh?” Chen Ziqi was surprised. He thought the eunuch would have come to summon Dan Yi instead. Chen Ziqi scratched his head, then followed the eunuch out of Danyang Palace and climbed onto the waiting palanquin.

“Mr Eunuch, sir, did the Emperor summon just me, or did he also ask the other princes to come?” Chen Ziqi asked the eunuch, who was walking next to the palanquin.

“Dianxia is too polite. This servant’s name is Fulu,” the young eunuch said in a warm voice. “Eunuch Yuan asked me to come and get you, but I don’t know if the other princes were summoned as well.”

Chen Ziqi pursed his lips. This eunuch definitely knew the answer. He just didn’t want to say it. Other than the Qingyun Palace servants, the rest of the palace staff all didn’t really bother with him, and whenever he asked anything, they always said they didn’t know. They were just bullying him because he was young and of low birth.

At Zichen Palace, Eunuch Yuan came forward to welcome him. “Dianxia, thank you for taking the trouble to come,” he said.

“Eunuch Yuan!” Chen Ziqi greeted him exuberantly, smiling gaily as he buried himself in the old eunuch’s arms.

Eunuch Yuan couldn’t help smiling. His plump, round face looked like a wrinkled old bun when smiled. He held Chen Ziqi’s little hand as they walked toward the study. The Seventh Prince was good looking, had an amiable personality, and on top of that, the Emperor seemed to favour Chang Jieyu of late. He certainly had to treat the Seventh Prince a little better than the others.

Fulu’s expression couldn’t help changing when he saw the preferential treatment Chen Ziqi received from Eunuch Yuan.

The Zhenlong Emperor had not called the other princes over. Chen Ziqi was the only one in the study. His heart was beating like a drum in his chest. Had the Emperor found out about his visit to the High Priest? He tried to recall if there were any palace rules that prohibited princes from meeting the High Priest, but came up blank. Professor Luo didn’t seem to have mentioned anything of the sort at all.

“Little Seventh, how has your stay in the Danyang Palace been? Are you getting used to things there?” the Zhenlong Emperor asked. He looked to be in the middle of reviewing submissions from the Imperial Court officials.

“Yup, I’m getting used to it,” Chen Ziqi said. He was still a little nervous. The High Priest’s warning that the cherry-picked prince had been murdered seventeen years ago still rang in his mind. Was it his Father Emperor who ordered that prince’s death?

“I just want to have a casual chat with you. What’s there to be nervous about?” the Zhenlong Emperor said. He saw that Chen Ziqi was afraid, and he put down his brush, gesturing for Chen Ziqi to come forward. In genial tones, he asked Chen Ziqi what he usually did on a daily basis, what Dan Yi did on a daily basis, and what the two Cloud Palace servants were up to.

Chen Ziqi only felt fear as he looked at the Zhenlong Emperor. He felt that if he said anything wrong, his head would roll within seconds. He forced himself to look away from the Emperor’s face, staring determinedly at the dragon pattern woven into the Emperor’s clothes. He made himself count the number of claws on each dragon’s foot in an attempt to calm himself down.

“I go to Chunxi Hall every day for lessons, and Dan Yi’s day is exactly like mine. Linghe sings very well, and the snacks Lingguan makes are really delicious,” Chen Ziqi said. He counted five claws on the dragon’s foot, and felt a bit less panicked. He started rattling off the types of snacks that Lingguan could make, counting with his fingers as he did so. He deliberately chose to omit the fact that he was practicing martial arts with Dan Yi. 

“Haha, why are you so obsessed with food?” the Zhenlong Emperor said with an insincere little laugh. “Zhen has a few more questions for you, alright? Who is Dan Yi close to usually? Has he been to see the High Priest?”

Chen Ziqi got a shock when he heard the Emperor mention the High Priest, and had to take a few moments to collect himself. He then realised that the Emperor was asking whether Dan Yi had gone to meet the High Priest, not himself.

“This round, when Dan Yi moved into the Danyang Palace, lots of people sent congratulatory gifts. The Crown Prince gege gave a huge box of jewels, and the Empress sent over some antiques and four palace maids… Dan Yi gave me a little jade horse, and I heard it’s worth a hundred taels of gold,” Chen Ziqi blabbered, avoiding the Emperor’s question. “Father Emperor, how much meat can I buy with a hundred taels of gold?”

“You’re a prince, for goodness sake; could you not be so unsophisticated? You embarrass me!” The Zhenlong Emperor was getting a headache listening to Chen Ziqi. The Cloud Palace already held the Imperial family in contempt, and this penniless bumpkin was definitely embarrassing them even further in front of Dan Yi. “Whatever you lack, Zhen will give you. Don’t look enviously at other people’s things any more! You’ll make them look down on you.”

Chen Ziqi shrank back a little.

“Yuan Xingan,” the Zhenlong Emperor said, calling for Eunuch Yuan. He was so irritated that he paced in circles around in his study. “Bestow the following on Cheng Jieyu: a hundred taels of gold, one hu* of pearls, twelve sets of accessories, some jade ornaments… ah, just go to the storehouse and send whatever catches your eye over to the Qingyun Palace. Also, tell Chang Jieyu to teach the Seventh Prince what it means to have regal bearing!”

*T/N: This is a unit of measurement for dry weight in ancient China.

Chen Ziqi’s eyes lit up. Pretending to be poor and pitiful had reaped him quite a few benefits today!

Very soon, rumours that the Seventh Prince had been scolded by the Emperor for being greedy and materialistic spread all over the palace.

When the other consorts and concubines heard about it, they all laughed at Chang Er.

“She’s from an insignificant family in a small town, so of course she’s impressed by a few shiny things,” Shu Fei said, her lips twisting in derision. 

“You know, I’ve asked her to have tea quite a few times. Nine times out of ten, she’ll say she can’t come because she’s sewing. There’s a whole department of embroidery in the palace, so I don’t know what she’s doing, sewing her own things,” the Guifei sneered. She glanced at Cheng Jieyu, who was sitting quietly in a corner. Cheng Jieyu and Chang Jieyu were both from the Qi Confederate sects, but the former was far more obedient; she always came when she was called. Chang Jieyu, on the other hand, was like a thorn in her flesh.

“Since she likes to sew so much, why don’t we give her something to sew? I hear she makes really good underclothes, and the Phoenix King’s Shizi has even asked her to make a few for him. You think she would make some for the Fourth Prince if I gave her some silver?” Shu Fei laughed unkindly, covering her mouth with her hand. Ordering another consort about like a palace maid – just thinking about it made her heart sing.

“You can try,” Guifei said. She wasn’t interested in this sort of thing. She turned to the palace maid next to her. “Chang Jieyu will definitely scold the Seventh Prince for what happened today. Ask the Crown Prince to send a little something over to the Seventh Prince to comfort him.”

“Certainly.”

Back at Qingyun Palace, contrary to everyone’s expectations, Chang Er was laughing giddily, clutching a plate full of gold ingots to her chest. “My dear son, my dear capable son! How did you manage to get so much money just by saying a few words?” she said.

“I just acted pitiful in front of Father Emperor, and he was all like, ‘A hundred taels of gold! Bring out the big pearls! Bestow them all!’ He even asked Eunuch Yuan to go to the storehouse, and told him to send all the good things he saw over to our place,” Chen Ziqi said boastfully. He was standing on a chair, crowing triumphantly like a cocky little rooster on receiving Chang Er’s praise.

Chen Ziqi walked out of Qingyun Palace in high spirits. He was immediately called over by the Crown Prince, who had duly received his mother’s instructions.

“Little Seventh, are we in the same camp?” the Crown Prince asked. He twisted the jade prayer beads on his wrist, smiling faintly.

“That goes without saying. I came from the Jingang Sect’s area, and the Jingang Sect is part of the Qi Confederate. We’re natural allies,” Chen Ziqi said, smiling obsequiously.

The Crown Prince was gratified by Chen Ziqi’s response. He took out a gleaming, beautifully wrought object and pressed it into Chen Ziqi’s palm. “If you need anything, come look for your Crown Prince gege. Don’t envy others’ things,” he said. There was an undertone of ridicule in his voice.

Chen Ziqi looked at the item in his hand. It was a piece of white jade with blue veins, carved in the shape of a cicada about two inches wide. It had been made with incredible attention to detail – even the tiny veins on the insect’s wings had been carefully carved into the piece of jade. The jade cicada felt cool and comfortable in his hand.

“This cicada is carved out of ice jade. It’s worth about the same amount as the jade horse,” the Crown Prince said, smiling meaningfully at Chen Ziqi.

Chen Ziqi gave the Crown Prince a strange look. He had only told the Emperor about the jade horse. How did the Crown Prince know about it?

It was dark when he returned to Danyang Palace with the jade cicada in his hand. Chen Ziqi saw Dan Yi waiting for him to eat dinner in the garden pavilion. Touched by this gesture, he impulsively gifted the jade cicada to Dan Yi.

Dan Yi’s body was always very warm, and he seemed to be more sensitive to heat than the average person. The ice bower in Danyang Palace was constantly being refilled. The Crown Prince said that this ice jade could make one feel cool, even in the summer heat, and so it seemed to be a fitting gift for Dan Yi.

The jade cicada gave off a slight bluish glow in the darkness, and looked beautiful resting in Dan Yi’s pale-skinned palm. For some strange reason, it also felt like it had a treacherous air about it, like it was a dangerous creature primed to strike. Dan Yi looked at the jade cicada for a moment, then passed it to Linghe for safekeeping. “Do you know how much this ice jade cicada is worth?” he asked Chen Ziqi.

Chen Ziqi’s heart thudded ominously in his chest. The Crown Prince had said it was of similar value to the jade horse, but from the way Dan Yi spoke, it sounded like it was worth far more. Did that mean he had made a loss? He raised his head to look at Dan Yi’s expression. Argh! He’d guessed right!

Dan Yi didn’t say anything and continued to eat his food.

Chen Ziqi clutched at his ricebowl, his heart twinging painfully. Then, a thought crossed his mind. Dan Yi was really wealthy. Since he had given Dan Yi something, then Dan Yi would probably give him something in return, probably of equal value. He was unlikely to make a loss in that case. Thinking this, he relaxed, and on recalling that he’d made Chang Er a huge sum of money earlier, had enough of an appetite to eat two bowls of rice.

However, Dan Yi did mention anything about giving him a return gift. At bedtime, Chen Ziqi stared at the back of Dan Yi’s head. Troubled by this potential loss, he fell into a restless sleep.

Author’s note: Mini-theater

Qiqi: Boohoo, I think I’ve made a loss

Birdie Gong: Don’t worry. What’s mine is yours

Qiqi: Really?

Birdie Gong: Of course! Come home with me if you don’t believe me

… …

Qiqi: (holding his butt) Why do I feel like I’ve suffered an even bigger loss?