CH 68

Chapter 68: Setting up a Plan

“How much do you know about the Yanbei Royal Family?” While looking at the sky outside the window, Ren Yaoqi asked Dong Sheng.

In her previous life, she hadn’t known much about the Yanbei Royal Family, and in this life, she hadn’t deliberately inquired about it, so what she knew was only what everyone knew.

But Dong Sheng was trained as Li Tianyou’s personal servant, and his master was Zheng Guoliang, a formidable servant who serves her maternal grandfather as the steward of the Li Family.

She always used to think that there was something peculiar about the way Steward Zheng spoke, but then she realized that Steward Zheng should have been a eunuch who came from the palace.

Li Tianyou’s servants did not need to know much about social interactions, but he must know how to help his master to avoid harm. So Dong Sheng should know a lot about the various families in Yunyang City.

“The late wife of the previous Prince Yanbei was the second daughter of the late Emperor. She was born to the Zhang Guipin[1] and was given the title of Princess Changde by the late Emperor at the age of 15. However, the previous Prince Yanbei had been betrothed to Yun Yao, the eldest daughter of the Yun Family. Before he was given in marriage, Prince Yanbei’s grandfather, the fourth Prince Yanbei Xiao Qishan was still alive and had asked for an order to present his case to the late Emperor.”

“The late emperor considered again and again how to block the public’s mouth and appease Xiao Qishan. He then allowed Xiao Yan to marry Yun Yao, the daughter of the Yun Family, as a Ceshi[2] at the same time as the princess entered the family. He then promised that if Yun Yao had a son, she would be given the position of Cefei[3] after Xiao Yan succeeded to the throne of Yanbei. “

“But Princess Changde had only one daughter, Xiao Wei, since she entered the Xiao Family and nothing more, while Old Madam Yun gave birth to the previous Prince Yanbei’s eldest son, Xiao Yan[4]. After that, the princess took a Guiqie[5] from a side branch of the Su Family for the previous Prince Yanbei. The Second Master Xiao Heng was born to this Su Guiqie, who was in poor health and passed away shortly after Xiao Heng was born. Xiao Heng then was raised at Princess Changde’s knee since he was young.”

As expected, Dong Sheng knew the twists and turns of these aristocratic families very clearly, and he explained them in detail like a treasure trove.

“The fourth Prince Yanbei, Xiao Qishan, lived until he was about sixty years old, so the previous Prince Yanbei was already thirty-five when he succeeded to the throne. At that time, there had been a bit of a fuss in the Yanbei Royal Family over the chosen heir.”

“Princess Changde wanted to appoint her own adopted concubine son, Xiao Heng. The previous Prince Yanbei, on the other hand, preferred his eldest son Xiao Yan. I heard that Princess Changde even sent a secret letter to the capital to ask the late Emperor to make decisions for her without telling the previous Prince Yanbei.”

“At that time, the late Crown Prince had died, the late Emperor was ill, and the two princes, Kang and Rong, were fighting for the crown. The letter that the princess sent to the capital quietly sank like a stone. On the other hand, the previous prince Yanbei used the reason that Xiao Qishan had left a legacy to ask for an order for his eldest son to be crowned. At that time, Prince Kang and Prince Rong, who were in charge of the country, were in a close battle, and no one wanted to offend the Yanbei Palace at that time. Therefore Xiao Yan became the chosen heir. After two more years, the late emperor suddenly recovered from his illness. Prince Kang and Prince Rong then were executed for disobedience. Soon afterward the previous Prince Yanbei died, so Xiao Yan succeeded him as Prince Yanbei. He also asked for the title of his first son, Xiao Jingkang, as his heir.”

“Because of the ‘rebellion of the two princes’ between Prince Kang and Prince Rong, the late emperor did not have the energy to take care of the affairs of Yanbei at first after he recovered from his illness, so Xiao Yan’s succession to the throne and the request for his eldest son’s title went smoothly. Only the late emperor requested that the heir of Prince Yanbei be enrolled in the State Scholarship School in the capital, essentially making him a hostage. So the heir of Prince Yanbei grew up in the capital and was betrothed from an early age by order of the late emperor to Zhao Ying’e, daughter of Princess Chang’an. I heard that this heir was an excellent writer and painter, but he was wasted in riding and archery.”

Ren Yaoqi listened in silence, some of the things Dong Sheng said she knew and some she did not.

She could imagine the deep waters of the Yanbei Royal Family, but now that she had heard such a detailed account from Dong Sheng, it was still a bit alarming.

“The current Prince Yanbei Xiao Yan’s main wife is the niece of his birth mother, Old Madam Yun. That niece is Yun Chuxue, the first daughter of Yun Sheng, the current head of the Yun Family. The Princess Consort herself has given birth to two sons and a daughter, namely Xiao Jingkang, the heir in the capital, Second Young Master Xiao Jingxi, and County Princess Xiao Jinglin. The brother of Prince Yanbei, Xiao Heng, married someone from the Su Family and had Third Young Master Xiao Jingyue and Second Young Lady Xiao Jingyuan. There are also several concubine-born sons and daughters. Princess Changde’s only daughter, Xiao Wei, married Wu Xiaohe, the current  General Military Officer of Ningxia, and had a daughter.”

Ren Yaoqi’s heart stirred, “What is the relationship between Xiao Yan, the current Prince Yanbei, and his brother Xiao Heng?”

Dong Sheng thought for a moment and said truthfully, “From an outsider’s point of view, they have a harmonious brothership. But… if you look at the relationship between their respective relatives, the Yun and Su families, you can understand that things are not as simple as they appear. The Yun Family and the Su Family have been shaking hands and talking like a family since Xiao Qishan became Prince Yanbei, but in fact, the two families are still in constant dispute behind the scenes. The Su Family holds several large horse farms in the northwest, and all the horses for the cavalry of the Yanbei Army come from the Su Family’s horse farms in the northwest. The Yun Family is an old family, and their background is not comparable to the Su Family, but it is better than the Su Family in terms of management. These two years the two families are competing for several large salt farms near Qingzhou, causing Prince Yanbei a lot of headaches.”

The Northwest Horse Farm…The General Military Officer of Ningxia… Dangxiang Tribe who were competing with the Great Zhou for the horse farm… The Yun Family and the Xiao Family, and the conflict between Old Princess Consort and Prince Yanbei…

Ren Yaoqi felt that there was a faint thread linking what she knew in her previous life with what Dong Sheng said just now, and a ray of dawn lit up in front of her eyes…

In the previous life, as soon as the imperial court ordered the reduction of the Yanbei Army, there was a dispute over Dangxiang Tribe’s horse farms in the northwest. Then the Yanbei Army was divided and part of it went under the command of Wu Xiaohe, the General Military Officer of Ningxia, to help him fight the Dangxiang Tribe.

She had originally thought that this was a two-pronged strategy by Prince Yanbei to preserve his strength.

But now it seems that Wu Xiaohe was the son-in-law of the Old Princess Consort, Princess Changde, so could he really be on the same side as Prince Yanbei? Was Prince Yanbei willing to share his army with his brother-in-law? Afraid not. More likely he was forced to choose between the lesser of two evils.

Although later, because of the intervention of the Second Young Master of Prince Yanbe Xiao Jingxi, most of the Yanbei Army was reorganized and their vitality was not damaged. Still, it was a loss after all.

Zeng Yu’s ability to quickly secure his position as the Ningxia General Military Officer was also related to his success in turning over a group of middle and lower-ranking generals of the Yanbei Army who were already on the fence before Xiao Jingxi was incorporated back into the Yanbei Army. Those few people ended up becoming his capital for promotion.

So if she could find a way to prevent the Yanbei Royal Army from entering Ningxia, she would have cut off a shortcut to Zeng Yu’s promotion.

It was undeniable that Ren Yaoqi hated the Zeng Family, Zeng Yu, and Zeng Kui.

Even though those things had not yet happened in this life, she still felt an uncontrollable hatred when she thought of the Zeng Family, a hatred that was so deep in her bones that it had been incorporated into her flesh and blood.

At that moment, a few more people came in from outside the courtyard with Xia Sheng and Xiang Qin. They were Sang Shen and other Ren Yaohua’s maids.

Wu Jing and the others were in a terrible state of distress. Two of the maids had tear stains all over their faces, still sobbing when entered the courtyard, so it was clear that they had suffered a lot.

When they saw Ren Yaohua standing under the eaves, they all flocked over in a flurry and complained aggressively, one after the other. The small courtyard immediately became noisy.

It was Wu Jing who could not stand it anymore and reprimanded them.

Ren Yaoqi only heard Ren Yaohua’s cold voice ringing out in the courtyard, “I will give you an explanation myself!”

Li Tianyou, who had been watching from the side, rolled his eyes and took Xia Sheng into the house with his hands behind his back.

Ren Yaoqi’s quiet voice rang through the room word by word, “There is a way out, but you need to take a risk. Perhaps everyone will have to take a risk, are you willing to do it?”

Dong Sheng froze. With some hesitation, he asked, “Who does Young Miss mean by everyone? Do Master have to take risks too?”

Ren Yaoqi looked at Dong Sheng with undisturbed interest, “Do you think that uncle is not implicated now? Instead of waiting for disaster to strike, why not strike back?”

The situation of Prince Xian, Li Qian’s family in Yanbei was already very awkward.

Li Qian’s birth mother, Wan Guifei, was a favourite concubine of the late emperor. She is a commoner’s daughter brought back from outside the palace in his early years. She gave birth to Li Qian within six months of entering the palace.

So although the late emperor acknowledged Li Qian’s status as an imperial son, his birth became a stain on him after his death.

There were rumours in the capital that before entering the palace, Wan Guifei was actually a singer-songwriter who had already been married to someone else. Although she was later blessed by the late emperor, she was not carrying the emperor’s seed. It was only through her skill that the late emperor recognized her cheap son and named him Prince Xian.

The late emperor was dead. There was no way to confirm this rumor, but when discussing the establishment of a new emperor, most of the courtiers would still choose to support the son of Yan Fei[6], who was just a baby at the time.

In desperation, Wan Guifei made the first move. Taking out the last imperial edict, she took the lead in demoting her own son, Prince Xian, to a commoner, and exiled him to Yanbei where the Yan Family could not intervene, so that his children and grandchildren could not enter the capital city forever.

Prince Xian’s family arrived in Yanbei on the same day Wan Guifei committed suicide by drinking dove poison.

In fact, over the years, Prince Xian’s family had taken refuge in the Yanbei Royal Family. Otherwise, he could not have lived in peace until today. He was a nuisance, but an alive one.

When Teacher Pei spoke to Ren Yaoqi about this secret story of the palace, he exclaimed that the Wan Guifei was indeed an impressive character.

She was not only beautiful, talented, and versatile, but also able to bend and stretch, resolute and ruthless, and she could afford to lose.

It was a pity that she was so unlucky.

Ren Yaoqi had never met her great-grandmother, but when she was in the capital she had seen some of the portraits of Wan Guifei and the poems that the late king had written in her honour, which had been secretly circulated among the talented scholars.

Teacher Pei laughed and said that he had asked Lu Dexin for her because, at first sight, he thought she looked like the woman in a painting he had in his collection.

She thought he was joking, but later she saw the painting and realized that Teacher Pei was talking about her great-grandmother, Wan Guifei.

And it was only then that she understood why Teacher Pei had only spoken to Lu Dexin a few times before Lu Dexin gave her away.

Lu Dexin was the overseer sent by the court to Ningxia. While the Imperial Family of the Great Zhou Dynasty had always preferred to use close servants as overseers, Lu Dexin was, in fact, a eunuch whose entire glory and favour came from his master at the top.

His master, Empress Dowager Yan, was a deadly rival to Wan Guifei, so Ren Yaoqi’s resemblance to Wan Guifei would have caused her trouble.

At that time she was actually a million times grateful for her face.

Many eunuchs could be a little paranoid when it comes to men and women because of their physical disabilities. Despite their incompetence in sex, they still liked to take wives and keep concubines. Ren Yaoqi hated to think back to the unpleasant time when she had fallen into the hands of Lu Dexin.

Dong Sheng was subdued by Ren Yaoqi’s bemused voice that seemed to see through the world.

Those of them who followed Prince Xian understood the situation of the Xian lineage in Yanbei as if they were walking on thin ice. Not only did they have to worry about whether the Yan Family in the capital would suddenly send someone to assassinate them, but they also had to worry about whether the Yanbei Royal Family would one day hand them over to the Yan Family for disposal or even dispose of them silently instead of the Yan Family.

As long as Empress Dowager Yan and her son were still on the throne, as long as the Yan Family still held the reins of the court, there would never be a time when his masters could truly be at ease.

“Please advise what shall this subordinate do, Young Miss.” Dong Sheng gritted his teeth and asked respectfully.

……

When Ren Yaohua sent someone in to let Ren Yaoqi out, Ren Yaoqi had already explained everything clearly to Dong Sheng.

Dong Sheng stood there frozen for half a second without moving, his face as white as paper, causing the maid who walked in to be startled as well, thinking how Fifth Miss had just given Dong Sheng a hard lecture.

Ren Yaoqi gave a light sigh and said before walking out, “Think carefully, you can also discuss with Xia Sheng and the others, if something went wrong send someone to send me a letter.”

Ren Yaohua saw Ren Yaoqi coming out and frowned, “What took you so long? It’s getting late and people have returned, let’s go back.”

Ren Yaoqi had explained what she should, so she nodded and answered in the affirmative.

Ren Yaohua did not move immediately. Instead, she looked behind Ren Yaoqi as if she wanted to wait for Dong Sheng to come out.

Ren Yaoqi smiled, “I have already taught him a lesson, he will never dare to do it again. I also have given him something to do. Why don’t we just let it go this time?”

Ren Yaohua was a bit dissatisfied, “What do you need him to do? Is there no one else in our Ren Family?”

Ren Yaoqi could not help but softly plead, 

“Third Sister, how about just treating it as a favor I owe you? When I just taught him a lesson, I already said that I would intercede with you for him.”

At that moment, Dong Sheng came out from the inner room. His face was still unpleasant, and when Ren Yaohua caught a glimpse of him, she was convinced that Ren Yaoqi had already lectured him.

Ren Yaoqi hurriedly said, “Besides, we can’t overstep our grandparents and uncle to punish their subordinates. After all, our surname is Ren, so if others knew about it, they might say something. As for those maidservants around you today, each of them will be rewarded with one tael of silver for their shock.”

She said, “Now that we are still following our Eldest Aunt outside, we can’t cause any trouble. There are plenty of opportunities to teach him a lesson later, there is no need to rush.”

Only then did Ren Yaohua let out a light hum and turned to leave.

Ren Yaoqi glanced at Dong Sheng and slowly followed Ren Yaohua out the door.

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About all of these concubine titles, I’ve tried to do some research about the meaning of all of them and their ranks within hierarchy with no avail. If anyone know more please comment below

[1] Guipin (贵嫔), a title of the Concubine of an Emperor, its ranking is below Guìfēi (贵妃) which is the title of Ren Yaoqi’s great-grandmother.

[2] Cèshì (侧室), a Concubine title, its rank is not too high.

[3] Cèfēi (侧妃), a Concubine title with higher rank than Ceshi.

[4] Yes, weirdly enough he has the same exact name as his father, I checked.

[5] Guìqiè (贵妾), another Concubine title, I don’t know how high its rank within hierarchy.

[6] Fēi (妃), literal meaning is a Consort

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This the first instance among countless other instances of me questioning myself for trying to translate a gigantic historical novel albeit having miniscule knowledge about Chinese language and culture. I’m sorry for this lousy attempt, Sir Author :”(

Also as usual, the newest info about family backstory is already updated in ‘Table of Contents‘, for anyone who wants to understand who related to who.