CH 25

Shen Lian didn’t have many good points, but one of them was that once he had received a bribe, he would make good on his promise. The Ministry of Internal Affairs was involved in the business of selling official positions under the table these few years, and there were countless officials below the third rank wanted to curry favour with Shen Lian. Gold, pearls, beautiful women and men – he was offered them all. The Qinghe County Magistrate, however, had offered him something very different; his offer was to build him a living worship temple.

“No wonder Shen Lian worked so hard to cover things up,” Lou Jing said, snorting derisively. This Qinghe County Magistrate was also another daring one. How dare he use the silver meant for repairing the river dikes to build a living worship temple? 

“You should go back to the country estate and rest,” Xiao Chengjun said, rewarding Yun Shiliu. He looked as calm and dignified as ever even after hearing the shocking truth.

Yun Shiliu looked toward Lou Jing first, and when Lou Jing nodded, he accepted the reward from Xiao Chengjun and bowed out.

“Why don’t you rest in the bedroom? I’m going to write a letter,” Xiao Chengjun said. He stood up and patted his Consort on the head before heading toward his study.

Lou Jing narrowed his eyes thoughtfully as watched the Crown Prince’s retreating back. 

The Minister of the Right, Chen Shichang, walked into the Emperor’s study. Satisfaction flashed in his eyes when he saw the mess of submissions in front of the Chunde Emperor. He fell to his knees, crying,“Your Majesty, there’s been an earthquake in Taishan*!”

*T/N: Taishan is a mountain.

“What did you say?” the Chunde Emperor nearly leapt out of his chair in surprise. “What happened?”

Taishan had been a symbol of Imperial power since ancient times. Any kind of disaster or unrest in Taishan was always seen as a very inauspicious sign.

“It’s not a large earthquake, but the Fengchan platform on the peak has been damaged, and the Zichen Ding* that was on it toppled over. The incense in the Ding also fell down onto the floor of the platform,” Chen Shichang took out a report from his sleeve and offered it respectfully to the Emperor.

*T/N: This is a three legged metal pot in which incense is burnt. It is also a symbol of the dynasty.

Taishan had been a place of meditation for the Emperors of the dynasty for generations. Later on, it was regarded as a symbol of the Crown Prince. The Fengchan platform on the top of the mountain was a place for performing ceremonial sacrifices to heaven, and great efforts had been spent to keep it in good condition throughout the different dynasties. The Zichen Ding was personally placed on Fengchan platform by the Emperor Taizu of the Yu Dynasty, and used as an incense burner for holy Tianzhu incense.

“This…” the Chunde Emperor’s brows knitted together tightly. Heaven had sent a clear sign, but how was it to be interpreted? 

“Your Majesty, this is not a small matter. Why don’t you let the Imperial Oracle divine the meaning? I believe that would be best. You can make the appropriate preparations once the meaning is known,” the Minister of the Right said, his face full of patriotic worry.

“That sounds good. Huai Zhong,” the Chunde Emperor said, calming down. “Ask the Imperial Oracle to come. Zhen has questions for him.”

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No one was clearer than the Imperial Oracle as to what the Taishan earthquake could mean. There were two ways you could interpret it. One was to say that the Crown Prince was immoral and Heaven had sent the earthquake to warn the people about him. On the other hand, one could also say that the earthquake happened because the Emperor had angered Heaven by trying to depose the Crown Prince. 

“Umm… this minister has only just heard the news of the earthquake from your Majesty. I don’t have my equipment with me, so I can’t divine it…” the Imperial Oracle’s forehead became one with the carpet as he kowtowed deeply. The cold sweat on his forehead stained the plush fabric beneath it. He had tried his best to stay clear of the recent tumult in the Imperial Court; who knew he would get dragged into this mess?

“When can you get the divination done?” the Chunde Emperor asked impatiently.

“Chen… Chen needs to analyse the stars at night, so the earliest would be… tomorrow,” the Imperial Oracle said, not daring to raise his head. He had to try and push the deadline back as far as possible to buy himself more time to think of a solution.

“Fine. I want an answer by the time I convene the Imperial Court tomorrow,” the Emperor ordered, waving his hands to dismiss the Oracle. He was a little rattled by this whole situation. 

“Certainly,” the Imperial Oracle said, kowtowing hurriedly in thanks. He fled out of the study immediately after and headed toward the Astronomy Bureau.

The Minister of the Right, Chen Shichang, smiled a secret smile hidden in his thick beard as he watched the fleeing Imperial Oracle out of the corner of his eye. He lowered his eyes, bowed respectfully and left the Emperor’s study.

Xiao Chengjun sat alone in his study, swirled his brush in ink and raised it above the rice paper. His hand remained motionless, and he didn’t set the inked brush down onto the paper for a very long time.

The jade brush washer Lou Jing gifted him still sat on his desk. The pink and white lotus flowers stood out strikingly against the green jade of the lotus leaves, their petals as translucent and delicate as cicada wings. It was too beautiful for words. Jade looked best when it was immersed in water, and it reminded him of Lou Jing’s exquisitely handsome face. Xiao Chengjun thought Lou Jing’s face was also too beautiful for words. 

The Crown Prince closed his eyes. He pulled out a small white porcelain bowl from a compartment under his desk, and took out a milk white piece of candy from the bowl. He slowly put this candy into his mouth.

“Dianxia loved this candy since he was young,” the Eastern Palace Head Eunuch Chang En told Lou Jing when asked about the Crown Prince’s habit of eating milk candy. The smile on Chang En’s face deepened when he spoke about this. “The Crown Prince used to carry a little candy pouch filled with wosi candy and milk candy with him all the time. He always finished eating the milk candy first. Later on, the Empress niangniang restricted his intake of sweets, so he was only allowed one bag of candy a month.”

Lou Jing couldn’t help smiling with amusement when he heard this. He remembered the first time he met Xiao Chengjun as a child. Xiao Chengjun had given him a wosi candy then. Now that he knew Xiao Chengjun was only allowed one bag of candy a month, the young Xiao Chengjun had actually been very generous in offering him one wosi candy.

“Reporting to the Crown Prince Consort, someone outside the palace has reported that the Pingjiang Hou furen and General Zhengnan have reached the Capital gates,” Le Xian said, beaming as he walked over quickly. 

“Really?” Lou Jing stood up immediately. The Pingjiang Hou furen was his eldest maternal aunt, and “General Zhengnan” was his second maternal uncle’s military title. Less than a month had passed since he wrote to his eldest maternal uncle – they had really made haste to reach the Capital at top speed. He was very pleasantly surprised that he would get to see them so soon. Thinking these happy thoughts, he couldn’t sit still any more, and he turned to head to the study to look for his husband, the Crown Prince.

Xiao Chengjun slowly folded the submission in his hands, lost in thought as he stared at the jade brush washer. At this very moment, his Consort scampered in happily. Xiao Chengjun calmly pushed the submission into one of the books on his table. “What’s got you so excited?” he asked his Consort.

“My First Aunt and Second Uncle are just outside the Capital,” Lou Jing said, smiling gaily as he tugged on the Crown Prince’s arm. “Dianxia, do you want to come with me? I want to welcome them.” Lou Jing knew that Xiao Chengjun was in low spirits, and thought it was a good opportunity to get him out of the palace and away from his problems.

“Sounds good,” Xiao Chengjun said, nodding slightly. By right, when his Consort married into the Eastern Palace, his maternal relatives should also have been invited to attend the wedding. However, because the wedding had been done in such a hurry, the Pingjiang Hou family would never have made it in time. Now that they were here, propriety demanded that he take the initiative to go and meet them instead of waiting for them to come to him. Anyway, it didn’t seem that he would achieve anything by staying in the Eastern Palace, so he might as well accompany his Consort to escort his beloved Jiujiu and Jiumu. 

*T/N: Recap that Jiujiu is a maternal uncle. A Jiumu is a maternal aunt.

The two changed into attire suitable for travelling, and asked Chang En to prepare some gifts. When they left the palace, a servant at the palace gates told them that the Pingjiang furen and the General had already arrived at the Pingjiang Hou’s mansion in the Capital. The furen knew that Lou Jing would look for them at first opportunity, and so had instructed her servant to wait for Lou Jing at the palace gates.

All the aristocratic families of the Yu Dynasty had a mansion in the Capital regardless of where their fief was located. These mansions were all bestowed by the Emperor Taizu. The Pingjiang Hou’s residence was located in Luotang Square as well. Even though the Pingjiang Hou’s family did not spend much time in the Capital, their mansion was still well-maintained by the mansion staff.

The Pingjiang Hou furen sat in the host’s seat, discussing matters with her butler. The Second Uncle Xu Che sat silently to one side, polishing the silver spear in his hand. 

The Pingjiang Hou Xu family’s heritage martial arts specialised in spearmanship. Xu Che was only twenty four years old when he struck terror into the hearts of the Southern Barbarians on the battlefield. The previous Emperor was greatly pleased by his showing, and conferred on him the military title of “General Zhengnan”.

“Xu Che, if the Anguo Gong comes to visit later, don’t act rashly,” the Pingjiang Hou furen said. She had finished instructing the butler, and couldn’t help sighing as she looked at Xu Che, who was obviously still stewing over Lou Jing’s plight.

The servants of the Pingjiang Hou mansion often communicated with the people in Zhuque Hall, and earlier, when Xu Che had stepped into the mansion, he’d caught hold of the butler and interrogated him on what happened in the Anguo Gong mansion. When he heard the torrid details of Lou Jing’s wedding, he had wanted to charge into the Anguo Gong mansion immediately with spear in hand. The Pingjiang Hou furen had only managed to stop him from doing so with great difficulty.

Xu Che sniffed derisively and was about to say something when he saw a lithe figure dart through the mansion gates. He immediately stood up. “Xiao Jing*!” he called out. 

*T/N: It’s a Chinese custom to add “Xiao”, which means “small”, to a child’s name. Lou Jing’s name is “Jing”, so his uncle calls him “Xiao Jing”. 

Lou Jing pulled his Crown Prince into the residence, told a servant to announce his presence, then sped into the main hall of the mansion.

“Zhuoyu…” the Pingjiang Hou furen also stood up immediately once she heard that Lou Jing had arrived.

“Jiumu, Erjiu*!” Lou Jing said. He couldn’t help but throw himself into their arms. It had been too long since they last met. 

*T/N: Erjiu means “Second Maternal Uncle”. Lou Jing is greeting Xu Che.

The Second Uncle caught his nephew in his arms, then ruffled his hair roughly. “You little brat, you’ve grown so much taller in the few years since we last met!” he said.

Lou Jing laughed as he tried to squirm out of his Second Uncle’s grasp and avoid the large hand that was ruffling his hair. He stuck his head out to look pleadingly at the Pingjiang Hou furen. “Jiumu, Second Uncle is bullying me again!”

The Pingjiang Hou furen’s usually serious face was now smiling in amusement. 

“Come here, let Jiumu get a good look at you,” the First Aunt said. She was smiling, but her voice trembled with emotion. She slowly stretched out a hand to touch Lou Jing’s cheek. “My boy, my poor little boy…” As she said this, tears started falling down her cheeks.

Even though she had persuaded the Second Uncle not to act rashly, when she saw her nephew in the flesh, her heart couldn’t help but ache for him. His mother died when he was little, and originally, they had trusted that the old Anguo Gong would take good care of him nonetheless. However, when the old head of the Lou family passed away, Lou Jing’s vicious father started treating his own son badly. Lou Jing was such a good, understanding child – why did he have to suffer so much?

Lou Jing gripped his First Aunt’s hand in his own, feeling rather helpless. He struggled out of his Second Uncle’s solid arms, patted down his messy hair, then addressed his husband in apologetic tones. The Crown Prince was standing just outside the threshold whilst all this was happening. “Dianxia, this is my First Aunt, the Pingjiang Hou furen, and this is my Second Uncle, the General Zhengnan,” he said.

The two elders who had finally gathered their wits about them hurriedly kowtowed to the Crown Prince in greeting. They had been too focused on examining their nephew, and had completely forgotten that Lou Jing had brought someone along with him today. 

“Please don’t stand on ceremony,” Xiao Chengjun said, moving quickly to help them up. “Zhuoyu is my Consort, and you both are therefore also my aunt and uncle.”

The Pingjiang Hou furen looked at the polite, dignified Crown Prince who spoke to them in a warm manner, and felt herself relax a little. At least their nephew was unlikely to suffer anything at the hands of this fellow. Xu Che stared at the Crown Prince, stunned by his poise and stately manner.

The Crown Prince was also quietly observing his Consort’s two maternal relatives. The First Aunt looked demure and kind, but also had an imposing air about her. The Second Uncle was a tall, strapping fellow with handsome features. His eyes burned like cold stars the way Lou Jing’s did. The saying that boys tended to take after their maternal uncles was true in this case – Lou Jing looked very much like his Second Uncle.