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C
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I am an imperial uncle, an uncle to the emperor.
However, I am not a direct uncle but a cousin once removed. My father was brother to Mingzong, the Tongguang emperor, 1 grandfather of the present emperor. I am only His Majesty’s cousin-uncle.
But with the late emperor’s own brothers having long since died o , I, a mere cousin-uncle, have become an uncle dearer than any true uncle.
Those mawkish words, “dearer than any true uncle,” were not spoken by me, but by the empress dowager.
The rst time she spoke these words, the emperor had yet to ascend the throne. The late emperor was newly deceased. Red-eyed and dressed in her mourning garb, she said to me, Chengjun, though you are the late emperor’s cousin, in my heart I have always seen you as an uncle. You are Qizhe’s dearest uncle, dearer than any true uncle.
At the time, I was deep in mourning for the late emperor, and her words chilled me.
It was no surprise when she added at once, Going forward, Qizhe will have to rely on your help, Chengjun. I request that favor of you now.
Afterward, my mother summarized the situation perfectly. She said, When those close to the throne have a use for you, you are dearer than anything. When they have no use for you, they want you to hurry up and die.
When the emperor’s personal reign had begun and his throne was as fast as if it had been cast in molten iron, I met the empress dowager on occasion
in my comings and goings at the imperial palace, and as she regarded me, she did appear to be willing me to go wait upon the late emperor as soon as possible.
It seems that the late emperor and those close to him once saw my father in the same light. After so many years of anticipation, the late emperor had at last lived to see my father interred. I thought that he should have been able to die in peace, his burden lifted. But the misfortunes of one generation came down to the next: the late emperor’s wife and son inherited his ways and went on suspecting me.
This would not end until I, too, was in my co n.
An idle observer once produced a summation of the present imperial court’s three great malignant tumors:
Wang Qin’s greed is too great for the treasury to slake.
Yun Tang ignores his post and toils for his faction’s sake.
And then the manipulative Prince Huai, chief of all poisons, Comes with his treachery to make the throne quake.
This chief of all poisons, this evil manipulator, this greatest of malignant tumors, refers to none other than me, Prince Huai, Chengjun.
Faced with this view, I can only profess myself helpless.
Actually, I have always been very dutiful and loyal. I have neither the intent to seize power nor the desire to covet the throne. I assert that no other minister of this court surpasses me in loyalty.
But the tragedy of it is that hardly anyone in the world believes in my loyalty. However, I have always been open to reason. In deference to reason,
I will say that the greatest fault in causing others to doubt me lies with my father.
I remember my mother often saying to me when I was young, Your father is the greatest fool I have ever met. Then she would stroke my head and say, You must not grow up to be like him.
In the eyes of outsiders, my father was nowhere near foolish. He went into battle for the rst time at fteen and became commander in chief at seventeen. Half his life was spent in the saddle, and the defeats he su ered were vanishingly few.
But to my mother, and to myself once I was old enough to understand, my father was in fact very simpleminded.
He was the Tongguang emperor’s youngest brother. He often recalled with ardent tears standing in his eyes how the Tongguang emperor had loved and cared for him when he was young, taught him to read and write, tucked him in at night, dressed him in extra layers when it was cold… and he was willing to lay down his life to repay his imperial brother’s kindness.
But the Tongguang emperor was frail and died young; my father had hardly any opportunity to repay him. After weeping bitterly in inconsolable grief, he resolved to extend his repayment to the Tongguang emperor’s son
—the late Yingchang emperor, the present emperor’s father.
If there was an incident at the border, he immediately volunteered to set forth. In political discussions at court, if he thought he could aid the government and the state in any way, he was sure to pour out his views, regularly becoming voluble and impassioned. His sincere advice often grated on the ear; he believed he was acting out of loyalty, but in the eyes of the emperor, he was attempting to make himself look good at His Majesty’s expense. One calls this presumption.
My mother once counseled him on this subject, but he wouldn’t listen. He thought that she was being womanish. When heaven and earth bore witness to the unfaltering loyalty in his heart, when the sun and moon re ected it, how could his nephew the emperor fail to sense it?
My mother was powerless. She could only watch him carry his foolishness through to the end.
After my father died, his military authority was immediately ceded and evenly split among a number of important ministers. All I inherited was his title. I did not undertake a position in any court ministry. The present emperor has a number of other imperial cousin-uncles apart from me, each holding the rank of prince, each with more power than Huai Manor.
Regardless, for whatever reason, outsiders always think that Huai Manor must be in possession of some secret in uence su cient to overthrow the government.
Just after the death of the late emperor, when the empress dowager spoke those mawkish words to me, I had no choice but to give her an empty promise. How was I to know some of my older cousins and a number of important courtiers would hold a small conference that very night and bring me along. Grand Tutor Yun Tang, who was still imperial chancellor at the time, said, “The nation cannot go without a ruler for a single day, yet since His Majesty’s passing, the throne has stood empty two days already. The crown prince, Qizhe, is still young. What say you, princes and assembled gentlemen?”
When my turn came, I spoke honestly: “It is right and proper for the crown prince to succeed to the throne. In the meantime, I will say irreverently that I have known His Highness Qizhe since he was born. He has always been clever and quick-witted, generous and benevolent. Though
he is still young, when he grows up, he is certain to be a wise ruler.” While telling the truth, I also took the opportunity to atter the future emperor. I thought that ought to improve my life going forward.
The next day, Qizhe succeeded to the throne and became emperor. That night, the empress dowager summoned me to the palace. In the imperial study, she dismissed the attendants. Holding the emperor by the hand, she said, “Your Majesty, now that you are emperor, you must not forget your imperial uncle Prince Huai’s contributions. From now on, in matters of government, Prince Huai will certainly assist Your Majesty.”
The empress dowager’s gaze was pregnant with meaning. I wanted to explain that she must have misunderstood something, but I could not.
This is how people are. The more you deny something to them, the more they believe it is the truth.
Day by day, the secret in uence of Huai Manor waxed in others’
imaginations, and especially in the imagination of the empress dowager.
So up to today, it had been my honor to be the court’s foremost scheming minister, a treacherous prince in the minds of people throughout the nation.
Today was the second day of the fourth month.
The month and the day were both even—a propitious date according to the calendar, suitable for raising house beams, matrimony, bathing, and travel.
I sat in my front hall.
Also in the front hall were two guests: one Yun Tang’s son Yun Yu, the other a minor imperial censor recently promoted to the Censorate.
As one of the court’s three great tumors, Yun Tang was a tumor only slightly smaller than myself, and unlike me, his reputation was not
unmerited. Just look at his son, Yun Yu; in his early twenties, he already held three or four concurrent positions at court, among them supervisor of the Imperial Censorate. This brand-new minor imperial censor was probably some years older than Yun Yu, yet he had no choice but to treat him with utmost deference and allow himself to be dragged here to visit me.
“Censor He is an exceedingly rare talent,” Yun Yu said to me soberly, “but he is still young and inexperienced. I hope Your Highness Prince Huai will look after him.”
Then he turned with a smile to Censor He, who was on his best behavior and sti as a co n with it. “His Highness Prince Huai, you ought to know, is not merely His Majesty’s uncle. He is also the imperial uncle dearest to His Majesty.”
I was numb to these words after so many years of hearing them. I gave the minor imperial censor a cordial smile. It was an exceedingly ordinary visit—or so it ought to have been.
And then my princess barged in.
Another nephew of mine, Qili, eldest son and heir of Prince Shou, once scolded me: Imperial Uncle, you’re ne in every way, except that no matter what happens and when, you always think that all the justice in the world is on your side; everything must always be someone else’s fault, and you’ve been dreadfully wronged. This is an aggravating habit of yours.
I have always thought he was wrong to say this; I didn’t deserve it. I have always examined myself regularly. Whenever anything happens, I rst try to nd fault with myself, and it is only because I usually nd nothing amiss in my own conduct that I go looking for fault with others.
Just like this time: I looked at the princess, as ever examining my conscience. Had I truly done something to make her take such drastic
After a brief period of self-examination, I found that I had done nothing wrong.
In the years since the princess had married into Huai Manor, I had honored her, provided for her—if she wanted gold, I would never give her silver. If she wanted to wear silk, I would never dress her in satin.
I had never said a harsh word to her, nor taken a concubine.
So why—
The princess’s back was straight, her head held high and her chest thrust out. She said, “Your Highness, I’m expecting! It’s not yours, of course!”
The hall went silent.
Censor He’s face was white with shock. Yun Yu snickered.
The princess turned and pointed to a gure standing by the small door leading from the front hall to an inner room, bundled up like a zongzi dumpling wrapped in bamboo leaves. “I am not afraid to tell Your Highness that the child in my belly is mine and his!”
Censor He looked desolate. Trembling, he climbed sti y to his feet and made to leave. Yun Yu tugged on his sleeve and forced him to sit down, while he himself went on watching with a smile.
The princess looked at me as tears streamed down her face. “This is what I have done today!” she said ercely. “I wanted to say this out in the open!
What is Your Highness going to do to me?!” She xed on me a gaze like a knife. “I wanted to tell you! It is you who drove me to this, Your Highness!
It is you who drove me step by step to where I am today! I would rather die than continue to endure! I will ght to the death if I must in order to destroy your reputation!”
Her eyes were bright red, lled with a esh-gnawing, bone-cutting hatred for me. “Your Highness, why will you not speak?! Why do you not dare to reprimand me, not dare to have me expelled? Because you don’t have the gall! Because you owe me!”
I heard a sip. It was Yun Yu drinking his tea. Holding the teacup, he continued to observe with relish.
The princess took a step forward. She glared ferociously at me. “Because you’re afraid the whole world will know that Prince Huai, Chengjun, is an impotent cutsleeve!” 2
History’s most humiliating events were taking place at Huai Manor today.
A teacup touched the table with a clatter. Yun Yu said, “Princess, let me speak fairly as an outsider. As far as impotence is concerned, you are bringing a false charge. His Highness Prince Huai has quite a few times gone with us to visit the streets of ill repute. Though he does have some preference for men, I and others can attest, along with those boys and girls at the brothels, that His Highness Prince Huai is quite accomplished in matters of intimacy. I assure you that no one has anything to say against him.”
The princess laughed savagely, rocking back and forth, her breath coming short.
She pointed at me. “Do you know that you’ve ruined my life? I hate you!
Alive or dead, I won’t let you get away with it! Make no mistake, today I intend to create a scandal for outsiders to see! I want the whole world to know that Prince Huai is a cuckold!”
She pointed again at the zongzi next to the small door. Chuckling, she said, “Well? Your Highness? Aren’t you surprised to see who my lover is?
How does Your Highness plan to punish us?”
The zongzi slowly raised his head and looked at me with clear eyes.
Pain pounded in my temples, making my head spin.
I wanted to say to the princess, You’re wrong. I am not the prime culprit behind bringing about this scene here and now.
The princess had been married to me for several years, and in fact, we had never had marital relations. But it wasn’t because I didn’t want to; it was because she was unwilling.
The princess was the daughter of Li Yue, a minister famed for his loyalty.
In a court polluted by three malignant tumors, Secretariat Director Li Yue was like a white pillar in a raging current of lth. The late emperor and the present empress dowager had relied heavily on him. In the end, he had overworked himself and died suddenly in his o ce at the age of forty-six.
While still in the rst ush of youth, when I reached the age to marry, the empress dowager feared that I would marry Wang Qin’s or Yun Tang’s daughter, combining two great tumors into one, so she personally arranged to betroth Li Yue’s daughter to me—so that Li Yue could act as a check on me.
I was quite pleased to marry her. Young Mistress Li was renowned throughout the capital. She was said to be strikingly beautiful, and skilled at music, the game of weiqi, calligraphy, and painting. What young man wouldn’t desire a beauty like this? I even had inquiries made and learned that her gracious name was Ruru, that her favorite colors were pale yellow and carmine, and that she enjoyed the poetry of Bai Juyi. I all but climbed the wall of Li Yue’s house myself to write lines of Bai Letian’s3 poetry on leaves and toss them into the garden under her window.
But later I heard that when Young Mistress Ruru learned she was to marry me, she cried her heart out and refused to take her meals. She did not want to wed a treacherous prince like me. Li Yue and his wife reasoned with her, and after several days of persuasion, Young Mistress Ruru at last resolved that, for the sake of the people, she would martyr herself and marry into Huai Manor.
Of course I was unhappy to learn of this, but I thought that a mighty prince like me could not long remain on the receiving end of such disdain.
Once she was married to me, she would see how handsome and re ned I was, and learn the truth of my loyalty and magnanimity. Perhaps then she would change her mind and be happy to spend her life with me.
On our wedding night, I lifted her veil and indeed saw a face of peerless beauty. Her eyelids were lowered. In the candlelight, she looked immensely digni ed and re ned, but there was no hint of expression on her face. It was as indi erent as a bowl of cold water.
I thought she was shy. I took her hand and spoke to her. I said, Starting now, you and I are husband and wife. You are Princess Huai, Jing Weiyi’s lady.
You don’t have to address me as Your Highness. You may call me by my given name, Weiyi, or my courtesy name, Chengjun, or you can call me Yi-lang or Jun-lang if you like.
I hoped that “Jun-lang,” so similar to a word for a charming young man, would make her smile, but her face remained like a bowl of cold water, and the icy hand I held trembled slightly.
I bent my head to kiss her lips. She closed her eyes as if submitting to her martyrdom. Tears slowly seeped from the corners of her eyes.
I paused midway and did not kiss her in the end, instead sighing and asking her, “Does it pain you so to be touched by me?”
She said nothing. Tears formed tracks from her eyes down her cheeks.
I felt very gloomy. I do not enjoy taking advantage of others, and I did not lack for bedfellows. Why force myself on a respectable woman?
So I said reasonably, “Since you do not want me to touch you, I won’t. We can have marital relations when you think it’s acceptable.”
Then I went to my study and spent my wedding night alone.
From then on, I still went on treating her as my princess. She did not lack for anything that was rightfully hers. I gave her whatever she wanted.
Occasionally I asked her, Princess, have you changed your mind?
For the rst couple of years, she continued to show me that same face like cold water. In the third and fourth years, she deigned to turn her head away from me with a snort. In the fth and sixth, she nally managed to glance at me, then bite her lip and look away. Just when I thought I was making progress and that maybe one day she would be willing, she pulled today’s stunt on me.
I really couldn’t understand what the princess was about.
Nor did I understand how she could now lay all the blame on me and say that I had deserted her. Not only had she accused me of being a cutsleeve, she had even said I was impotent.
Could this really be my fault?
Temporarily eschewing the cutsleeve question, I couldn’t live like a monk just because she wouldn’t have me. Then there really would have been something wrong with me.
Just then, the zongzi by the door spoke up. “Your Highness, I have done no such thing with the princess!”
The hall once again fell silent.
Yun Yu’s snow-bright eyes looked from him to me.
The zongzi’s clear eyes were candid. “It is through His Highness’s favor that I have found shelter in this household. I would never do such a perverse and unnatural thing, even if I were to die the cruelest death.” He closed his eyes. “Your Highnesses may kill me or punish me, but I cannot permit Her Highness to slander my integrity like this, nor to disgrace His Highness’s reputation!”
His voice was neither particularly loud nor especially passionate, but for some reason, in the silent hall, there was something uniquely compelling about it.
The princess gave another savage laugh, cutting him o . “Integrity? Haha, a person like you speaks of integrity? Laughable, truly laughable! Why don’t I tell everyone what His Highness brought you here for?”
Her words were lled with venomous rancor. At last I had no choice but to speak. “Princess, I engaged He Zhong as an accountant out of appreciation for his talents. You ought to know that.”
“Your Highness, why go on pretending?” the princess said. “Has there ever been anything pure between you and the young men you bring home?”
Heh. The seated Yun Yu laughed again.
He Zhong ushed. “I…”
At this point, I had no choice but to say angrily, “Princess, how long will these irresponsible remarks continue? When have I ever brought home those I’ve had impure relations with?”
Yun Yu gave a cough, then broke into hearty laughter. An array of colors bloomed across Censor He’s face. He seemed to have gone numb.
Seeing that the situation was now completely out of hand, I sighed lengthily.
“Fine, Princess, you’ve made your stink and let everyone know everything
there is to know. Let us end this here for now.” I summoned the guards to lock the princess and He Zhong in separate retiring rooms for now.
As she was dragged away, the princess went on struggling and shouting abuse. When she was gone, her voice still lingered among the rafters.
Yun Yu twisted the lid of his teacup. “What marvelous luck. I never thought when I brought Censor He for a visit that I would get to see such a rare sight.”
Censor He was silent, shivering.
“There’s no need to fear,” Yun Yu said to him, smiling. “You and I have witnessed a forbidden scene. Call it an eye-opener. Even if His Highness wanted to silence everyone present today, there are so many people. I’m in it with you, right?”
All this talk of silencing. Who could silence everyone?
Before half the day was out, my reputation as an unsurpassed cuckold would probably be known to everyone in the capital.
Yun Yu sipped his tea, then clicked his tongue. “That little scholar He Zhong is quite dainty, from what I could see. Your Highness’s tastes have been getting more and more vegetarian.”
There was a bitter taste in my mouth. Suddenly, I was in no mood to explain.
Who would believe me if I did? Where my reputation is concerned, no one has ever believed my explanations.
Despite being a cutsleeve, I have only ever indulged at pleasure houses; I have never encroached upon men of respectable background. The scholar He Zhong had two months ago been a public letter writer who had fainted in the street from hunger. I took him in out of kindness and arranged work for him doing accounts. I merely thought it a convenient way to do a good
deed and had been on the point of forgetting about him altogether. Who could have thought that such an idea would enter the princess’s head?
His current troubles were my doing.
And I truly did not believe that he could have become the princess’s lover, much less a father.
Yun Yu put down his teacup, rose, and said, “Your Highness, if you aren’t planning to silence me and Censor He, we will take our leave of you.”
“I’ve given you two something to laugh about today,” I said with a bitter smile. “I won’t see you o .”
Yun Yu joined his hands in a salute and exited sedately with Censor He. I sat in my chair, feeling a sudden desire for someone to come along with a club and knock me unconscious.
The servants surreptitiously cast pitying and speculative glances at me. It was Zhang Xiao, the oldest domestic steward in the manor, who cautiously said, “Your Highness, regarding the princess…”
I pressed my ngers to my forehead. “For now, don’t let anything get out.
Get a doctor to examine Her Highness.”
An examination showed that the princess was indeed pregnant, and nearly two months along.
Whoever’s child it was, it certainly couldn’t be mine. And two months just happened to be how long He Zhong had been at the manor.
News traveled even faster than I anticipated. That afternoon, a palace eunuch delivered a verbal decree from the emperor summoning me to the palace.
The imperial gardens were dense with green shade and blooming with bright owers. I stepped onto a zigzagging covered walkway above the
imperial pond, which was home to colorful carp. These were accustomed to being fed, so when they caught a hint of anyone’s approach, they clustered together in a complacent riot of red to pursue the gure above the pond.
At the end of the walkway, past two shrubs and an unusually shaped stone, inside a palace hall whose door stood half ajar, a bright yellow gure held a book and wielded a brush. A eunuch announced me. At this I stepped inside and knelt respectfully before the desk. The bright yellow sleeves shifted; the wearer set down the brush and book in his hands. “You’re here, Imperial Uncle. Stand up. There’s no need for so much ceremony.”
The emperor rarely called me “Imperial Uncle” these days. Normally he called me Prince Huai, or used my courtesy name, Chengjun. Each time I was once again addressed as Imperial Uncle, my heart leapt into my throat—
because it was certain nothing good would follow.
Sure enough, once I had risen, I saw my nephew the emperor, with his brow faintly furrowed, concern on his august countenance. “We hear you have had a family tragedy at home, Imperial Uncle?”
“It does not amount to a tragedy,” I responded, “only a tri e unworthy of mention.”
Qizhe’s brow relaxed. Half-seated on his throne, he said, “What punishment are you planning, Imperial Uncle?”
The marriage between me and my princess had been arranged by the empress dowager and o ciated by the emperor. If I wanted to punish her, I rightly ought to notify the two of them.
So I said, “This is a private scandal. I do not wish for it to become public.
First, I wish to conduct a thorough investigation at home, then consider what comes next.”
Qizhe picked up a memorial to the throne that lay in front of him and ipped through it. “If you don’t wish for it to become public, then we will tell the Court of the Imperial Clan not to involve themselves for now. We hear that the princess has already confessed everything. Are you planning to investigate anew, Imperial Uncle?”
“Though I have the princess’s statement,” I said, “it is still better to look into the facts. I cannot condemn an innocent man based on a one-sided account.”
Qizhe shut the memorial. “The one-sided account you refer to is presumably the princess’s testimony. As for the innocent man, who is he?”
“Everything about the princess and He Zhong that concerns this matter… ought to be carefully investigated. There must be no wrongful accusation. That is my opinion.”
Gripping the memorial, Qizhe said, “Oh, so the other party is named He Zhong.” The corners of his lips rose in a half-smile. “You will have to be more careful next time you bring someone home, Imperial Uncle.”
Alas, no explanation was possible, so I o ered none.
I bowed. “I hear Your Majesty’s order and shall abide by it. I will be more cautious in the future.”
Qizhe dropped the memorial back onto the desk. “Fine, since you want to investigate this matter thoroughly, then you may return home.”
I knelt respectfully to bid him farewell, then withdrew.
On the covered walkway, Yun Yu was coming my way with another person. We met in the middle.
“So His Majesty already knows,” said Yun Yu, smiling. “Your Highness Prince Huai, I must plead my innocence. It was not I who spoke of it. But let me be indiscreet for a moment. Your Highness ought to amend that
romantic temperament of yours. Granted, women are unreliable, but from this instance, it can be seen that men are not very reliable either.” Smiling brightly, he glanced at the person beside him. “Chancellor Liu, don’t you agree?”
I looked at the person next to Yun Yu. With a bitter laugh, I said, “Don’t pour salt on my wounds, Supervisor Yun. Chancellor Liu is an honorable man. Naturally he cannot speak on a subject like this. Why drag him into it?”
Though Yun Yu was abrasive, he always knew when to stop. He let the matter rest. After exchanging a few casual remarks, we bade each other farewell and parted.
The person beside him bowed slightly to me. “Your Highness Prince Huai, I will take my leave.”
I nodded in return. “Go ahead, Chancellor Liu.”
As I watched his dark blue gure move gradually toward the other end of the walkway with Yun Yu, many feelings mingled in my heart. Yet I could never resist taking another look at him as he departed.
The whole world knows that I, Prince Huai, Jing Chengjun, am a cutsleeve.
In fact, it began as a ruse; I wasn’t really a cutsleeve.
I thought at the time that it was a burden on the empress dowager and my nephew the emperor to be always worrying about me. Even if I produced an heir, in the best-case scenario, his circumstances would be the same as mine now.
I might as well simply let the family line end with my generation. So I pretended to prefer men to calm the minds of the empress dowager and the emperor.
Lie enough, and even you may come to believe it. Though I have no understanding how it happened, after too much time spent pretending to be a cutsleeve, I became one.
By the time I discovered that my ruse had become reality, there was no turning back.
At some point, a person had entered my heart, and there was no ridding myself of him.
Stand too long in the dark, and you begin to love the light. If you can only eat sweets, your mind dwells on salt.
I think that it is perhaps because of this that I rst fell in love with him.
I was the court’s greatest malignant tumor, and he, its most loyal minister since Li Yue, another spotless pillar in the raging current of lth.
At court and among the common people alike, everyone spoke of him as a sagacious chancellor. When we met, I had to let him call me “Your Highness Prince Huai,” while I called him only “Chancellor Liu.”
Yet his given name, his courtesy name, had been spoken hundreds upon thousands of times in my heart.
When would the day come when I would be lost in conversation with him? When would I be able to speak his given name, his courtesy name?
Tongyi, Liu Tongyi.
Ransi.
In the dusky light of the setting sun, I left by the eastern gate of the imperial gardens. I hadn’t gone two steps when I heard someone repeatedly calling,
“Imperial Uncle, Imperial Uncle…”
I stopped, looked back, and saw one of my imperial nephews, Qitan, Prince Dai, hurrying toward me. He came up to me and stopped in his tracks. Smiling, he said, “Imperial Uncle, I’m so glad to see you at the palace.
There’s an extremely urgent matter I need your help with.”
Ordinarily, I would have given Qitan a hard time and made him call me
“Imperial Uncle” some more before asking what he wanted, but I was really in no mood for that today, so I said bluntly, “What do you need money for now?”
Qitan grinned and rubbed his hands together. “You’ve always been so good to me, Imperial Uncle. I didn’t even have to say anything for you to know what I wanted.” He came closer to me and ashed a number with his ngers. “Six thousand liang.”
I sighed. “Qitan, why don’t you just pick up a torch, burn down my manor, and be done with it?”
Lately Prince Dai had become obsessed with antiques and artworks. He had collected countless items, and lost a fortune in the process. Yet in fact he was only an amateur when it came to antiques. Only an amateur would have the zeal and courage to dare to spend on such a scale.
He had used up most of his own spending money, so he came to me, unabashedly borrowing again and again because I had doted on him since he
was a child. Each time he asked for more, and of course I had no hope that he would ever pay me back.
Rubbing his hands together, Prince Dai said, “Imperial Uncle, it really is six thousand liang, just these six thousand. Do you know what I ran across today, Imperial Uncle? A wine cup used by King Wen of Zhou! The seller is only asking for eight thousand liang of silver, and there are lots of people ghting me for it. If I’m too late, it might get snatched up by someone else.”
“I recall that just a few days ago you got hold of an earpick used by King Zhou of Shang, which seems to have been a fake. As I see it, you have no luck with the Shang and Zhou dynasties.4 Just let it go.”
I turned and kept walking. Qitan came after me, dogging my steps.
“Imperial Uncle, my good Imperial Uncle, Uncle Jun, this time it’s di erent.
Don’t you think I learned my lesson the rst time? This time it’s absolutely, positively genuine! Besides, it’s going to be my imperial brother’s birthday in a few days. I want to present the wine cup to him as a birthday gift. Think of it as helping grant my wish! When I o er it, how about I explain on the gift list that this wine cup is a joint present from you and me. You’ll have a share in it too, Imperial Uncle. Won’t that do?”
Ridiculous. If I put up six thousand liang of silver for something that costs eight thousand, when you’re writing out the gift list, reasonably speaking, your name ought to be written far behind mine.
“If you can mend this bad habit of yours,” I said earnestly to Qitan, “and cease picking up all these antiques and artworks, His Majesty will no doubt be immeasurably grati ed. In fact, His Majesty would be happier than he would be to receive ten great cauldrons once used by King Wen of Zhou to worship the heavens.”
But Qitan refused to see sense. He ignored what I’d said and caught hold of my sleeve. “My dear Imperial Uncle, I’m begging you. What about ve thousand liang? Can you do ve thousand?”
I sighed again. “I’ll turn around right now and present a memorial to His Majesty asking him to make Henan your efdom. I’ve heard that there are many tombs of the Shang-Zhou period there. I’ll get you a couple dozen able-bodied men, a cartful of pickaxes and shovels, and you can dig there every day. You’re sure to uncover some treasures. You’ll be better o than you are now.”
Qitan was busy keeping a tight hold of my sleeve. Grinning broadly, he said, “Little Imperial Uncle, four thousand liang, what about four thousand liang?”
Made a cuckold in the morning, then taken for a cash cow in the afternoon. I was very dispirited by my situation. As if he had smeared his mouth with honey, Qitan said, “I know you’ll lend it to me, Imperial Uncle Jun, you’ve always loved me the most, ever since I was little.”
I continued to sigh. I really was helpless here. Qitan’s daring did have something to do with the way I had spoiled him all his life.
When the various princes and princes’ sons of that set—Qitan, Qifei, Qili and so on, Qizhe included—had been little, I had played with them all.
Among them, the late emperor’s sons, Qitan and Qifei, and the princes’
sons, Qili, Qizheng, Qiqian, and others, had particularly loved coming to Huai Manor. Qitan was clever, bold, and sweet-tongued. At that age, the only di erence between Qitan and the emperor was their mothers, but they didn’t seem like brothers at all. As a child, Qizhe had been taciturn, keeping everything bottled up. He never revealed when he wanted something, or even when he didn’t. When Qitan had any opinion whatsoever, he was sure
to shout it as loudly as possible. Anything he wanted, he had to have. Due to this power of his, he had carried o quite a lot of items from Huai Manor. It was also because of this that it appeared as if I had always doted on Qitan.
Reportedly, the empress dowager had once been worried that I would shift my support to Qitan, posing a danger to Qizhe’s throne. When I later learned of this, I thought it was a little ridiculous.
Never mind that I don’t have the power to depose or appoint an heir; merely considering Qitan’s temperament, it was for the best that he never became emperor. If he were the one on the throne now, our national treasury might well have been emptied, and the empire wouldn’t be far from ruin.
Qitan was still clutching my sleeve and looking at me with a bright smile.
If I didn’t agree to give him the money, I probably had no hope of him letting go of my sleeve any time today.
Helpless, I prepared to nod. When I thought of striking o another large sum in my ledger, I felt a faint stabbing pain in my heart.
Just then, out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of a dark blue gure appearing around a corner. Out of nowhere, my heart uttered.
Perhaps heaven was taking mercy on me, handing me an opportunity like this?
I pretended I hadn’t seen. To Qitan, I said, “Fine. But I really can’t stop worrying about whether that wine cup is real or a fake. If it’s a fake and I give you the silver, wouldn’t I be overindulging you? I think I’d better go with you. There will be time to talk things over once it’s been appraised and con rmed to be genuine.”
“Little Imperial Uncle,” said Qitan, “I don’t think you know any more about antiques than I do. I gure that if something looks real to me, it’s sure
to look real to you too. Why should you go to the trouble of coming with me?”
I shook my head. “No, no, I won’t rest easy until it’s been appraised.” I had spoken slowly, drawing out my words. That dark blue gure was now approaching. I raised my head. Pretending I had just noticed him, I said,
“What a coincidence. We were just talking about our inability to appraise antiques, and along comes an expert.”
Smiling, Liu Tongyi bowed to me and Qitan and said, “I seem to have disturbed a conversation between Your Highnesses.”
Qitan nally let go of my sleeve and nodded in return. “Are you on your way home, Chancellor Liu?”
“Precisely,” Liu Tongyi said politely, then made to take his leave of us.
I gathered up my courage and said, “Chancellor Liu, please stay.”
Liu Tongyi stopped. A shade of doubt appeared in his expression. Qitan looked at me in astonishment.
I had very few dealings with Liu Tongyi at court. At most we exchanged a bit of small talk when we met. Everyone knew that there was neither friendship nor enmity between us, but I was a treacherous prince, while he was a sagacious chancellor—one black and one white. To outsiders, it was a matter of course that we would be at odds.
So when I asked Liu Tongyi to stay, not only was his expression doubtful, even my imperial nephew Prince Dai was astonished.
Trying to act natural, I said, “I would like to trouble Chancellor Liu for some assistance.” Qitan stared at me in open shock. I smiled and said to him,
“Chancellor Liu is among the top talents at court. He is known to be a master of antiques appraisal. It seems the heavens have sent us an expert.”
Qitan appeared con icted. “Imperial Uncle, what are you…”
I saluted Liu Tongyi. “Chancellor Liu, my imperial nephew Prince Dai wants to spend a large sum to purchase a wine cup that he claims was used by King Wen of Zhou. I worry that he may be chasing a fake. If you are currently at leisure, may we invite you to come with us to have a look? That way we won’t end up out some thousands of liang of silver to buy a fake antique and give others cause to laugh their heads o .”
I looked at Liu Tongyi. I could count on my ngers how many opportunities I’d found during the years we had been at court together to exchange a direct look with him like this, so in the spring breeze, my heart was quite full.
Liu Tongyi was always cautious and self-disciplined. He wouldn’t want to be tainted by my foulness. Most likely, he would nd some excuse to shirk the invitation and leave.
In the light of sunset, his face was as simple and elegant as an ink wash painting, and my heart seemed inclined to imitate his air. The princess, the scandal, the cuckoldry—all retreated from me for the moment, disappearing beyond the clouds.
He smiled faintly and said to me, “Naturally I would not refuse the honor of Your Highness Prince Huai’s invitation. I am at Your Highness’s service.”
In that moment, owers bloomed in the spring breeze. My heart over owed.
Liu Tongyi was dressed in his o cial robe and had to go home to change.
Qitan and I had both come to court in our ordinary clothes.
At the palace gate, I said to Qitan, “If you’re in a hurry and worried that someone will get there ahead of you, you can go ahead and nd a spot. I
will accompany Chancellor Liu while he goes home to change. Don’t buy it before Chancellor Liu and I get there.”
Qitan’s face lled with gratitude. “All right, Imperial Uncle. Then I’ll take my leave of you. Remember to bring the silver banknotes!” He leapt up onto his horse and galloped away like the wind.
I smiled at Liu Tongyi. “My imperial nephew is too impatient. He rushes into everything recklessly.”
“His Highness Prince Dai is swift and decisive,” said Liu Tongyi. “When he reaches Your Highness’s age, most likely he will also be as cautious in thought and deed as Your Highness.”
Was this praise or disparagement? Ransi must have been under some misunderstanding concerning me, but even if his comment was meant as an insult, I was still pleased to hear it come out of his mouth.
I smiled at him again. “Chancellor Liu, you are too kind. Though I have admittedly reached a certain age, I still fall short here and there, so these imperial nephews probably all see me as a peer. I can never keep up the dignity required of an imperial uncle in front of them.”
There was a ways yet to go from the palace gate to Liu Tongyi’s sedan. I deliberately slowed my speech and pace both.
Fortunately, Liu Tongyi had no reserve in speaking to me. To my remark he answered, “Your Highness Prince Huai isn’t much older than His Highness Prince Dai and the rest. In their eyes, Your Highness is probably di erent from His Highness Prince Shou and the other princes.”
Of my older cousins, like Prince Shou and Prince Xiang, the eldest was over fty. If my father were still living, he would be about the same age. I really didn’t seem to belong to the same generation as them. So I said,
“These words have made me feel as fresh as a youth, Chancellor Liu.”
Liu Tongyi smiled. “Your Highness is too kind.”
I followed Liu Tongyi’s sedan in my carriage and arrived at his residence along with him. Before taking his seat in the sedan, he had asked me, “Isn’t Your Highness going home to pick up silver banknotes?”
“I don’t believe Qitan’s wine cup was really used by King Wen of Zhou,” I said. “It’s almost certainly a fake. We’ll go have a look, Chancellor Liu. There will be a chance to come back to it if your appraisal proves it to be genuine.”
Liu Tongyi nodded. “Yes, presumably a seller of antiques won’t be worried that Your Highnesses might take his wine cup without paying.”
“Of course,” I said, “especially since we have Chancellor Liu himself as a guarantor.”
Liu Tongyi’s eyebrows rose slightly. “So that is why Your Highness insisted on taking me along.”
“Oh, no,” I said with a sigh. “You’ve seen through me, Chancellor Liu.”
Liu Tongyi smiled slightly and bent to enter his sedan. I smiled as well and got into my carriage.
My vehicle stopped at Liu Tongyi’s residence, causing a considerable commotion inside. As I disembarked, I saw with my own eyes the faces of a steward and three or four pages change color. However, I soon found that Chancellor Liu ran his household ably. Those who snuck glances at me only dared to do so from discreet corners. While I received inquisitive looks from the maids and pages who came to serve tea as I sat in the main hall, their expressions were still respectful.
Liu Tongyi was unmarried, but his house was still very tastefully furnished, and not a bit worse than my house, which had the bene t of a wife.
As my thoughts turned to wives, I remembered the princess, and my head began to ache faintly again.
Fortunately, at that moment, Liu Tongyi arrived, having changed into casual clothes. He wore a jade-green silk robe and, having omitted a crown, had tied his hair with a ribbon of the same color. This made him look less sti and more graceful. I could once again forget the princess for a time.
He stood in the hall and said to me, “Your Highness, shall we go now?”
I cheered up. “Yes, let’s go.”
Qitan’s wine-cup seller was aboard a large pleasure boat on the river in the capital’s suburbs. When Liu Tongyi and I arrived, the twilight was profound.
The lanterns on the pleasure boat had been lit.
Qitan was seated in the reception hall in the pleasure boat’s hold, holding a wine cup as he watched girls in the costume of the western regions dance.
Apart from him, several others occupied the reception hall, some quite familiar to me and mostly sons of the capital’s aristocracy. Qitan, with a slightly mysterious air, as if he were here in disguise, stood up and ran over.
Tugging on my sleeve, he said quietly, “You’re nally here, Imperial Uncle.
Oh, and Chancellor Liu is here too. Imperial Uncle, no one here knows who we are. You mustn’t reveal our identities.”
I made a sound of agreement, thinking to myself, You’re always parading around the capital. How many people are there who wouldn’t recognize your face?
They’re probably just pretending they don’t know you!
Qitan led Liu Tongyi and me to our seats. Sure enough, while the others present appeared unmoved, their gazes constantly wandered our way. Prince Huai, Chancellor Liu, and Prince Dai, all three together on a pleasure boat.
Beyond a doubt, the whole court would know of this marvel tomorrow.
“Where is the wine cup you want to buy?” I asked Qitan. “I suppose it can’t be the one you’re holding now.”
“How could it be this one?” Qitan said, smiling. “I was waiting for you, Imp… Uncle, and Young Master Tong, before I asked Master Xu to bring it out.”
Then he said to a person sitting beside him, “Master Xu, the people I was waiting for are here. You can bring it out.”
This Master Xu was in his forties or fties, with a mauve face, a little pudgy, and dressed in shabby clothes. He had an unexpectedly honest look.
After making a sound of agreement, he bowed in our direction, then turned and went through a side door. Shortly, he came out carrying a wooden box.
Master Xu placed this box on the tea table in front of us, then slowly and carefully lifted the lid. Inside was another little box. When he opened that, there was another, and then still another. Only when the fth box was opened did it reveal a bundle of deep red satin.
This thing had been packaged with plenty of pomp.
Master Xu lifted the parcel wrapped in red satin and held it up in front of Qitan as if it were a fragile egg yolk. My nephew rubbed his hands together and accepted the parcel. Layer by layer, he unwrapped it.
Nestled amid the red satin was a wine cup covered in verdigris that testi ed to its age.
Judging from the patination, this cup might actually have been used by King Wen of Zhou.
As if afraid that his ngerprints would dirty it, Qitan lifted it through the cloth and turned it this way and that to look at it. Then I took it from him and looked at it as well. Next to me, Qitan pointed out, “Uncle, look at the exterior of this wine cup! Look at the designs! There’s no doubt that it’s a
relic of the Shang-Zhou period! And get a look at the verdigris. A thick patina like this must have taken a thousand years to build up.”
His eyes sparkled. He seemed to want to reach straight through my robe to get right to my silver banknotes.
I silently o ered the wine cup to Liu Tongyi, who took it, looked, then said, “Master Xu, as I see it, this wine cup does not appear to be a relic of the Shang-Zhou period.”
I had been expecting this. I smiled.
Master Xu looked shocked. “Sir, please mind what you say. I have always been an honest businessman. How could I dare to deceive my valued customers with a fake?”
Qitan looked even more shocked. “Chancl… Young Master Tong, look closely. It’s clear at a glance that this is an antique with a long history behind it. If it doesn’t come from the Shang-Zhou period, then what year does it come from?”
Liu Tongyi put the wine cup on the table and said lightly, “As I see it, it’s from last year.”
When night was at its deepest, I returned to my manor by starlight.
Qitan was despondent. The wine cup had been determined by Liu Tongyi to be a fake, and a very clumsy one at that. Liu Tongyi said that making a fake like this was very easy. Cast a mold based on the antique to be copied, prepare a pot of liquid copper, and pour as many as you like. Then you toss it in grease and let it soak, bury it in sludge for several days, and expose it to the sun for several more. Repeat the sequence several times. Finally, after it has been buried in earth and soaked in water, in about seven or eight months, it will be covered in verdigris and look ancient and weathered.
Everyone at court knew that, apart from the three great tumors, the court also was home to two great assets. The rst was Chancellor Liu’s eyes, and the second was Supervisor Yun’s mouth.
When Chancellor Liu’s eyes passed this judgment, Qitan was exceptionally upset. One of the other guests immediately called the authorities to take Master Xu to the government bureau and con scate his goods while they were at it.
Liu Tongyi looked on with interest. Master Xu had several large crates of goods, and apart from the boxes, which were real wood, everything else was an imitation.
The fake goods were strewn all over the boat by the constables and baili s from the government o ces. Gold and silver, copper and iron, jade and glass—all of it looked beautiful as it glimmered in the lamplight. Sadly, there was nothing beautiful about the look on my nephew Qitan’s face.
As I see it, young men must experience some turmoil; they must take some losses in order to mature.
Liu Tongyi stood apart, as if the scene had nothing to do with him. He casually picked up an item and toyed with it.
I strolled over to have a look. It proved to be a mellow little piece of jade with cloud-like crimson swirls against a background of white. It was a lovely stone, sparkling and translucent. I gathered that this was material Master Xu had been keeping to make another fake. There was red in it already; if it was dyed, it could be turned into a bloodstone and carved with a counterfeit seal from the previous dynasty.
Following his inspection, Liu Tongyi put it back. The baili s were sure to want to take all these fakes back to the government bureau to serve as evidence.
Qitan had been deeply wounded by the wine cup. After leaving the pleasure boat, he said he had something else to do. Probably going drinking somewhere.
In order not to draw too much attention when we arrived, Liu Tongyi and I had shared a carriage from his residence, which now rst took me back to my manor. In front of my gate, I got out and thanked Liu Tongyi. “I really have taken you out of your way today, Chancellor Liu.”
Liu Tongyi also got out and stood smiling next to the carriage. “Your Highness is too kind.” In the night breeze, the creases in his jade robe stirred like the rippling waters of a lake.
I took something from my sleeve and presented it to him. “I hope you will accept this small token, Chancellor Liu.”
Liu Tongyi was a little surprised when he saw it.
“What I’m doing is called ‘o ering stolen owers to the Buddha,’” I said. “I hope you will be merciful and not report me to the Court of Judicial Review. I think that it makes no great di erence whether this little stone is included among the fake goods.”
Liu Tongyi’s eyes curved slightly. “Your Highness isn’t only asking me to play deaf and dumb, but also to accept stolen goods.”
“You won’t accept it?” I asked morosely.
The curve of Liu Tongyi’s eyes deepened. He took the little stone from my hand and lifted his sleeves. “Thank you, Your Highness. I bid you farewell.”
I watched him step into his carriage, which then receded into the darkness. Tonight had been worth practically as much to me as the past ten years of my life.
It seemed that Liu Tongyi’s usual rigid and fastidious manner wasn’t entirely his true self.
I had not misjudged him.
After all, if he really were a dried-up scholar, how could he have become imperial chancellor at such a young age?
I walked inside, a oat upon a charming night breeze. Once through the gate, I immediately sensed something amiss.
A person standing by the side gate stamped his feet and said, “Oh, Your Highness Prince Huai, you’re back at last!”
When I saw him, I froze.
Surely not. This late at night, how could it be…
I walked quickly toward the main hall. The state of a airs I observed along the way proved that it really could.
I straightened my clothing and stepped into the main hall. I was just about to kneel when from the seat of honor came a familiar voice: “You’re nally back, Imperial Uncle. No need to kneel. You don’t have to be so proper when you see us in your own home.”
I bowed. “Greetings, Your Majesty. I was unaware that Your Majesty would be gracing me with your presence and have not prepared an adequate reception. I hope Your Majesty will forgive me.”
My nephew the emperor, sitting in the central seat at the head of the room, said impatiently, “Imperial Uncle, why don’t you straighten out your tongue and speak to us properly.”
I had no choice but to stand up straight and say with a smile, “Your Majesty, what has brought you here so late at night?”
This question at last placated the emperor. He leaned back in his seat and accepted tea from a young eunuch. “This evening, we heard that the family
tragedy at your residence had taken a turn for the worse. The princess attempted to hang herself, and the other suspect rammed his head against a wall and bit his tongue. Our mother is unwell and lacks the strength to come and inquire into such a serious matter. There had been no trace of you since you left the palace, Imperial Uncle, so we had no choice but to come in person to your residence to oversee your domestic a airs for you.
Do you think we have meddled, Imperial Uncle?”
So from the time I went to the palace to the time I came home, the situation at the manor had devolved to such a degree.
“It is to my in nite distress that my domestic a airs have disturbed Your Majesty,” I said at once. “I am moved to tears of gratitude by the solicitude Your Majesty has shown me.”
Qizhe cast down his eyes and used the lid of his teacup to stir the leaves oating in the tea. “In nitely distressed and moved to tears. Your labors are great, Imperial Uncle. You ought to look after your health. We have heard that this evening you and Chancellor Liu visited a pleasure boat together and listened to music on the river. One wonders whether you were content to leave it at that?”
When Liu Tongyi and I had stood together at the gate, we must have attracted considerable notice from those inside.
“Oh, yes,” I said. “This afternoon, Prince Dai wished to buy an antique. I know little of such things, so I invited Chancellor Liu to come take a look.”
“Yes, Qitan just came to complain to us,” said Qizhe. “He says you insisted on inviting Chancellor Liu, and now he owes Liu Tongyi a favor and has lost face in front of him.”
The hall was vast and half full of people. I had rushed in and only had time for a passing glance, so I hadn’t had a clear look at who was here.
“Prince Dai did indeed leave a step ahead of me,” I said. “He said he was going drinking, so I made do with Chancellor Liu’s carriage on the way back. It did not occur to me that Prince Dai would reach my house ahead of me and bring his complaint to Your Majesty. If he comes to me again to borrow money when he has none of his own to spend, I will not lend it to him.” I glanced left and right. “Where has that brat Prince Dai gone? I have a score to settle with him.”
I swept the room a number of times and found nothing but guards and eunuchs. I didn’t see Qitan.
Qizhe raised his eyelids slightly and put on a tiny smile. “Qitan must have known that we were at Huai Manor and worried that we would become impatient waiting for you. That is why he deliberately hurried here to tell us. As he spoke, his account inadvertently shifted into a complaint. He might have regretted it himself after the fact and worried that you would chide him when you returned, so he left at once. It was just while you were talking to Chancellor Liu at the gate, Imperial Uncle. He left by the back gate. Don’t blame him.”
I responded, smiling, “With Your Majesty to intercede for him, however much I might have wished to settle accounts, I no longer wish it.”
“Imperial Uncle,” said Qizhe, “we do not know whether we ought to be complimenting you on your magnanimity and composure. Qitan, ignorant of the situation, heard along the way that we had come to your residence and knew that it might be a matter of urgency, so he ran over in a urry to notify us of your whereabouts. Meanwhile, Imperial Uncle, once you had concluded your solicitous attentions to your nephew, you took your sweet
time coming back in Chancellor Liu’s carriage, and even stopped to have a chat.”
Not only had I had a chat, I had also given a gift. I wondered what kind of precious treasure the little stone I had given Liu Tongyi had become in the telling when it was reported.
This evening I had gone a little overboard hugging myself in delight over getting a little closer to Ransi, and it happened to coincide with Qizhe’s presence at the manor. This was just my luck.
My intentions might be ill, but everything I had done was open and aboveboard. I had no need to hide. I looked at Qizhe and said frankly,
“Because the person I had troubled was Chancellor Liu, I needed to be more respectful. Chancellor Liu and I are hardly friends. I wanted to say a little more and get to know him better.”
Qizhe looked into my eyes again and put his teacup back onto the tray held up by the young eunuch.
I quickly followed up, “I had no idea that Your Majesty was here, or else I would have come faster than a messenger bearing a military dispatch.”
Qizhe raised a hand and waved. “Enough. If you say anything else, the subject will run eighteen thousand li away from us. Imperial Uncle, an imperial physician has examined the princess. She was not seriously injured and has already regained consciousness. We asked her a few questions, and she had some things to say.”
From Qizhe’s expression, I could tell that the princess’s words and deeds had not fallen short of this morning’s e orts.
“Imperial Uncle,” said Qizhe, “what are you planning to do? This is our rst time looking into this kind of domestic a air. It will be up to you in the end.”
I said hesitantly, “As it has already disturbed Your Majesty… reasonably speaking, it ought to be handled by the Court of the Imperial Clan. But… I still wish…”
Qizhe raised his eyebrows. “You still wish to resolve it at home?”
I sighed. “Once this storm has passed… my reputation… hardly anything will remain of it. If this goes to the Court of the Imperial Clan, most likely nothing will remain.”
Qizhe leaned against the yellow satin cushion embroidered with a dragon that a eunuch had placed on his chair. “How are you planning to punish the princess and He Zhong, Imperial Uncle?”
“The princess is indeed pregnant,” I said, “but apart from her own account, there is no evidence that clearly demonstrates a connection to the accountant He Zhong. I think I ought to investigate. Furthermore, I believe that while the mother has done wrong, the child is innocent…”
“Fine, that is just,” said Qizhe. “It is impossible to determine now who the child in the princess’s womb belongs to. Why not settle the princess in a quiet place and make a decision after she has had the child and it can be determined whether it is of your blood, Imperial Uncle?”
My forehead throbbed, and a heaviness settled into my spine. I had no choice but to say, “There is no need to investigate this matter. I am certain that… the child in the princess’s womb is indeed not mine…”
The already quiet hall seemed to grow even more hushed when I said this.
Qizhe’s expression was a little hard to fathom. Shortly, he said, “You are already certain then, Imperial Uncle. Out of deference to your many years of marriage, if you plead for mercy on the princess’s behalf, we will forgive her. But what we do not understand is He Zhong. He is only a scholar taken into your residence. Why would the princess say it was him if this were not
the truth? And why are you so determined to keep investigating rather than believe the princess?” He looked me up and down again. “Why not imprison He Zhong in the Court of the Imperial Clan’s prison?”
I sighed again. “It is my belief that there is much to suspect in the princess’s account. I do not wish to tie this matter up carelessly. If her lover is indeed someone else, I cannot bear the thought that he will go wholly unpunished!”
The corners of Qizhe’s lips twitched. “You cannot bear it. You make a good point, Imperial Uncle.” The two beams of his sharp gaze all but cut through my face.
Shortly after, Qizhe rose without warning. “Imperial Uncle, come with us to your rear retiring room. The rest of you need not follow. We wish to say a few words in private to Prince Huai.”
This rear retiring room was a small room behind the main hall and separated by a side chamber. It was a place to withdraw to and rest on occasions when one grew weary while waiting to receive guests. I liked to go there myself.
Once over the threshold, Qizhe looked around and said, “The furnishings in this room have never changed.”
I stood in the place of lower precedence and smiled obsequiously. “That is on account of my laziness.”
Qizhe turned his head and gave me a glance. “It’s just you and me here.
There’s no need for so much ceremony. Close the door.”
I immediately obeyed.
Qizhe put his hands behind his back and regarded me. “That He Zhong.
We saw him as well. He appears gentle and delicate. It’s no wonder you feel
tenderness toward him, Imperial Uncle.”
All the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.
“Your Majesty,” I said quickly, “He Zhong truly isn’t…”
“Enough, there’s no need for concealment,” said Qizhe. “How could we be unaware of your predilection?”
I earnestly defended myself. “Although I do have… a certain fondness… I have nonetheless always been cautious. I would never bring anyone home. I truly did happen to nd him downtrodden and pitiful, yet with talent and lofty aspirations, so I gave him a position in my residence so he could keep body and soul together out of a desire to do a good deed. I am not protecting him. It is only that I have reason to suspect the princess has also misunderstood his position, and that is why…”
Qizhe frowned slightly. “In Huai Manor, if the princess were truly displeased by his presence, she could punish him however she wanted. Why would she need to get knocked up to frame him?”
Once again I sighed helplessly. “My guess is that the princess wanted not only to punish him, but to punish me as well. Your Majesty, the thoughts and actions of women are not always subject to common sense.”
Qizhe’s eyes narrowed and he laughed. “Yes, and you are always most sensible, Imperial Uncle. Qili was right. As soon as you open your mouth, all justice is on your side.”
I bowed my head and said, “I would not dare to presume. I have only ever told the truth.”
Qizhe took two steps, then retraced them and stopped in front of me.
“Told the truth? Chengjun, I have never known which of your statements is true and which is false. For example, you say you prefer men, but when our mother arranged your marriage with the princess and we o ciated, you still
married her. You have always been romantic, and we have heard that you have a man here, another man there. I’ve heard many names—all these Scholar Zhangs and Master Lis. Even Yun Yu seems to be included among their ranks.”
Hearing the nal name, I immediately raised my head and said, “That’s not…”
Qizhe cut me o . “But it seems that no one has ever entered your heart, Imperial Uncle. Even Yun Yu won’t satisfy you. You have your eye on Liu Tongyi now?”
A chill ran up my back. I simply made my voice at and expressionless and slowly said, “Your Majesty, though I do have such hobbies, I have only indulged them in pleasure houses. I am not in the habit of having stray thoughts about everyone I come across which might taint those relationships. Supervisor Yun and Chancellor Liu are Your Majesty’s loyal subjects, pillars of the court. How can they be polluted by me, or by such matters? My own reputation is well-known already, and I have nothing more to fear from slander. But if it should damage the honor of loyal subjects, then even if I were to be dismembered, I could not atone for my crime.”
For a time, the room was silent. When Qizhe spoke again, his tone had softened. “We were only bringing up some rumors as a joke. There’s no need to disparage yourself like this or to speak so seriously. You are a pillar of the court, the person we most rely on. If you make yourself out to be worthless, what are we to do?”
“I have always muddled along carelessly,” I said, “making no contributions to Your Majesty or the state. It is Your Majesty who has favored me.”
After another silence, Qizhe said, “Chengjun, we have been meaning to ask you a question. What is in your heart, after all?”
“Nothing but loyalty to Your Majesty and the state,” I said emphatically.
Qizhe looked at me and looked at me again. The corners of his lips twitched slightly as he said, “That is why we say that we never know which of your statements we ought to believe. You just said that you muddle along carelessly, making no contributions to us or the state, yet now you insist that you have nothing but loyalty to us and the state.”
I smiled. “I may be muddled and shiftless yet still loyal. Loyalty does not necessarily come with ability.”
Qizhe swept his sleeve and said, “Fine, very sensible. Now, we will leave the matter of the princess where it is, Imperial Uncle, and you can deliberate on her punishment yourself. The same applies to He Zhong. You may take care of your own domestic a airs.”
I opened the door and waited until Qizhe had gone out to follow him. My nerves were strained. I felt weary.
At three you can see what a man will be in his prime, at seven you can see what he’ll be in old age—this common saying isn’t accurate at all.
Thinking back to when Qizhe was little, how quiet and obedient he was, who could have imagined how compelling he would be today?
No one can guess how a person will change in the future, until he changes.
The emperor at last made his way back to the palace. I respectfully saw him to the gate. When I went back inside, the ground felt unsteady beneath my feet.
I stood outside the door of the room where the princess was being held. I wanted to go in, but I was afraid that the oodgates would open wider if she saw me. So I walked away and circled around to the little room o the rear courtyard where He Zhong was being held. When I came up to the corridor, it occurred to me that many of the maids had come with the princess as part of her dowry and were quite loyal to her. Tomorrow one of them might well go and say to the princess, Last night His Highness did not go see you but went to He Zhong’s room. The situation might become even more hopeless.
So I went back. Suddenly, I thought, What if I just don’t see either of them?
But in all likelihood, He Zhong had been falsely accused by the princess.
I’d heard he had been working quite industriously since coming to the manor despite earning hardly any money. Now, what with ramming his head against a wall and biting his tongue, he was in an awful state. It would be inhumane not to see him.
If I was going to see He Zhong, I rst had to see the princess.
I went to the princess’s door. This time I thought about what would happen if a maid went to the princess tomorrow and said, After seeing you yesterday, His Highness immediately went to see He Zhong. This decision also seemed somewhat dangerous.
I wavered indecisively by the princess’s door. Next to me, Chief Steward Cao said, “Your Highness has been thinking of the princess, I can tell. To think matters between Your Highness and the princess have reached such a stage…” He wiped his eyes with his sleeve.
“Yes,” I said. “It’s said that marriages are the outcome of fortune accumulated in a previous lifetime, but it seems that in our last lifetimes, the princess and I gathered little.”
I raised a hand and said to Chief Steward Cao, “Open the door.”
I stepped into the room. The princess was lying on the bed with her face turned to the wall. Four maids were in attendance by the bed to keep her from attempting suicide again.
The maids bowed to me, then discreetly withdrew. Chief Steward Cao also very considerately closed the door behind me.
When I looked at the princess, I only wanted to sigh. I didn’t know what I could say. But I couldn’t say nothing. I deliberated for an age, then said, “I suppose you vented your anger today.”
The princess sco ed and sat up in bed. “Your Highness won’t ask whose child it is?”
I was silent, so the princess continued with a sneer, “Your Highness is always putting on all kinds of airs, but now that it comes down to it, it turns out you’re a spineless cuckold! I won’t tell you who the child’s father is even on pain of death!”
“Saying this amounts to telling me that your accusation against He Zhong is false,” I said.
The princess looked alarmed. Then, holding her head high, she said,
“There’s only you and me here. We aren’t in the courtroom of the Court of the Imperial Clan. I could tell you that I’m going to drag down He Zhong even if it means my life, and what di erence would it make?”
“I only want to know for my own satisfaction,” I said.
“And you say you haven’t had impure relations with He Zhong. See how anxious you are.”
“If you insist on thinking so, there’s nothing I can do about it,” I said. “But why did you have to do this to yourself?”
The princess turned her face away without answering.
I turned around. “His Majesty has graciously allowed me to adjudicate this matter myself. I had a part in driving you to these extremes, so I will think of a good outcome for you.”
When I opened the door, I heard the princess say behind me, “Your Highness, I’ve actually hated you since before I married you, and I still do. I did this because I refuse to resign myself to this fate. What have I done to deserve this?!”
Before I left, I said, “So you made your fate even worse?” With the princess in this state, there really was nothing I could say to her, so I stepped out of the room.
Upon leaving, I did go to the cramped room containing He Zhong.
He was also lying in bed with a few servants in the room to keep an eye on him. Seeing me enter, they bowed and withdrew. Chief Steward Cao once again closed the door behind me.
I didn’t know whether He Zhong was conscious or not. I walked up to his bed. “I know that this has nothing to do with you, and the princess has wrongly accused you. You have been subject to an injustice. I’m very sorry.”
He Zhong’s head was wrapped in round upon round of white bandages.
He shifted, and two tears owed slowly from the corners of his eyes.
I continued: “Though I have no proof now, tomorrow I will be sure to give you justice.”
When I left the little room, Chief Steward Cao said, “Your Highness, how can the matter of the princess be investigated?”
“Lock each of the princess’s personal maids who came to the manor with her in a separate retiring room, and tell them that if they reveal the identity
of the princess’s lover, I will only kill that man and not the princess. If they do not reveal him, tomorrow I will send the princess on her way.”
Steward Cao went to carry out my orders at once, not omitting to add before he left, “Your Highness is wise.”
The next day, the truth emerged. The princess’s lover was one of the manor’s guards. He had once been a guard in Li Yue’s residence. After I was married, Li Yue recommended him to me. I assumed that this man was a spy that the empress dowager wished to install in my home, so I accepted him and had him serve as an interior guard.
When I went to have this man arrested, he had already run o . After learning of her pregnancy, the princess had begged him to take her far away from the manor, but instead, he had acquired a sachet of drugs and told her to abort the pregnancy. In other words, the princess had in fact been provoked by him, but she didn’t want to lay the blame on her lover, so she decided to blame her own fate. Fate had decreed that she and her beloved be born to di erent stations and deprived of a happy ending. Thus her hatred settled on me, the one who had subjected her to this fate by marrying her against her will.
This reality saddened me. I had previously supposed that the princess might have changed her mind and fallen in love with me. A man like me ought to have had no trouble winning the heart of a young woman, so I assumed it was only because she was a well-bred lady that she felt uncomfortable broaching the subject. I had never taken the time to notice, so in the end, her love had turned to hate. From her teeth-gnashing loathing of me yesterday and her insistence on saddling He Zhong with the blame, it
was evident that she was jealous. Without profound love, where could such acrimonious hatred come from?
Who could have guessed the truth? Apart from my even greater wonder at the princess’s conduct, I couldn’t help but feel downcast.
But why did she have to get He Zhong involved?
After hearing the news that the guard had run o , the princess went mad again. It was a di erent madness from yesterday’s. She laughed, she cried, she screamed. Pointing at me, she said, “It’s all your fault! I planned to break it o with him after I came here. I thought of submitting to you, but you turned out to be a cutsleeve! Why would you marry me if you’re a cutsleeve?! I hate you! I’ll make you wish you were dead! I’ll ruin the lives of everyone you care for!”
So it still circled around to being all my fault.
At this point, I had no further interest in arguing with the princess, so I agreed with her. “Fine, it’s all my fault. You committed adultery with the guard, slandered a bystander, conceived an illegitimate child, and on top of that destroyed my reputation and that of my family line—though my reputation hardly needed destroying… What punishment do you expect from me?”
The princess bit her lip and burst into tears.
I sighed. “Well, I will nd you a convent. There you can abstain from meat and chant the name of the Buddha. Settle your mind and untie the knot in your heart as you wait for the child to be born in peace,” I said mercifully. “Regardless of anything else, the child has done no wrong.”
In that moment, I thought that even though I had become a cuckold, I was a cuckold with a halo above my head.
In the afternoon, Supervisor Yun stopped by Huai Manor. He hadn’t changed out of his court dress. Sitting in a gazebo in the courtyard, he said with a bright smile, “Your Highness truly is a saintly cuckold, with much too open a heart.”
I could hardly keep my countenance. “Supervisor Yun, I have been badly hurt by this abrupt family tragedy. I hope you can be understanding.”
“It’s nothing,” said Yun Yu. “With a couple of pretty young men to console you, Your Highness’s hurt will be all better by the end of the night.” Then, changing the subject, he said, “Oh, yes, I heard that His Majesty paid a personal visit last night?”
“Yes,” I said. “I had gone with Prince Dai and Chancellor Liu to see an antique and couldn’t receive him in a timely manner. My profound distress has yet to abate. Speaking of which, I’ve remembered something I was planning to discuss with you, Supervisor Yun. Last night, His Majesty…
asked me something, concerning… my relationship with you.”
Yun Yu raised his eyebrows and said, “Oh?” He put his arms on his chair’s armrests. His eyes glinted faintly, but his expression remained unchanged, and he said in the same tone as before, “What relationship did the emperor say Your Highness Prince Huai has with me?”
“His Majesty suspected… that you and I have that kind of relationship.
Everyone is aware of this habit of mine. That His Majesty would say so indicates that someone has been taking note. Given that this is… a delicate time, why don’t you avoid me for the time being, Supervisor Yun? I’m afraid of dragging down your reputation.”
Yun Yu didn’t answer. He looked at me, then after a moment, laughed and said, “I don’t think there’s anything to avoid. My reputation is that of a little treacherous courtier, who is the son of a great treacherous courtier. It is
nothing short of Your Highness Prince Huai’s. By my own temperament, I say I don’t care how delicate the time may be. I’ll keep doing as I please, unless Your Highness Prince Huai is worried about being burdened by me and wishes to avoid me. Then I will stop coming here.”
I met his gaze. I could only smile and say, “Your words are always unanswerable, Supervisor Yun. How could I dare to tell you not to come?
Since you don’t mind, we’ll go on as we have been.”
For once, Yun Yu didn’t add anything. He only stood and looked at some peonies outside the gazebo. Shortly, he turned his head and looked askance at me. “His Majesty wasn’t wrong. There is a bit of something between Your Highness and myself.”
When he said this, my teacup shook in my hands. “Supervisor Yun, I have apologized to you a thousand times, and now I apologize to you again. I was drunk then and took you for someone else. I hope you will be charitable and let it go.”
Speaking of that incident, it really was a small mistake I had made during my many years of dalliances. I recall that Qili had invited guests, saying that he had something to show everyone. Qitan had paid a visit to borrow from me that day, so the invitation was delivered to Huai Manor. However, only Qitan received one. I was not invited.
I joked to Qitan that Qili must have obtained rare items that he couldn’t let his imperial uncle see, then brazenly accompanied my nephew. When we reached Qili’s manor, my imperial nephews were all gathered, along with Yun Yu, Wang Xuan, and the other young men who usually hung around my nephews. I said to Qili, What nice thing are you keeping from your imperial uncle? Qili looked at me without a word, raised his hands, and clapped.
In response a number of golden-haired, blue-eyed, scantily clad beautiful girls undulated into the room and began to twist their hips and cavort.
Their dance was nothing like the style here in the midlands, making their breasts bounce as their slitted skirts ew up again and again, exposing their bare thighs. The eyes of my imperial nephews and the other young men were arrested, almost as if they were intoxicated.
I couldn’t help but sigh. These children had been brought up too strictly.
They had too little experience.
Qili saw my bleak look and said, “Imperial Uncle, I think you know why I didn’t invite you.”
Fortunately, Qifei knew the proper way of showing respect to an elder. He summoned a number of pretty serving boys to pour wine for me.
Unfortunately most of them were still young. I am not particularly interested in the fteen- and sixteen-year-old ones who haven’t really developed yet. The ones who suit my tastes best are just on the point of maturity or already fully grown. Among the serving boys there was only one slightly older one who narrowly caught my interest. I took him by the hand and sat with him awhile. The swaying of the foreign dancers had made me dizzy, so I simply went to a gazebo in the garden to drink in peace, keeping only the serving boy who had taken my fancy with me. The afternoon was warm, and I was a little drowsy after a few cups of wine, so I took a brief nap in the gazebo.
While I was muddled with sleep, I heard someone calling into my ear: Your Highness Prince Huai, Your Highness Prince Huai. The voice sank into me and made my heart itch. I thought it was the youth who had been keeping me company, so I gathered up the sleeve beside me, pulled that person into my arms, and kissed him.
Not far away, a voice cried out, “Oh no, what a disaster! Imperial Uncle has the wrong person!”
I opened my eyes and realized what a terrible mistake I had made. The person I had pulled into my arms was Yun Yu.
As little subject to embarrassment as I am, my face still grew hot.
Fortunately, Yun Yu was equal to the situation. He stood, brushed himself o , and said with a smile, “Your Highness was dazed from sleep. What beauty did you take me for?”
I got to my feet and hurriedly apologized, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
Yun Yu said, still smiling, “It’s nothing. I came too close.”
Qili stood outside the gazebo, tapping his palm with a fan. “Next time you draw someone into your arms, Imperial Uncle, remember to open your eyes rst.”
With that blabbermouth Qili as witness, presumably many had learned of this event and used it as fodder for their private ridicule of me afterward.
Recalling that period, even Qizhe had given me strange looks; probably he had also known, and that was why he said what he had last night.
Yun Yu said unhurriedly, “On that subject, I ought to say a word of thanks to Your Highness for the favor you showed me.”
I coughed and lifted my teacup to take a drink.
Yun Yu stood, looking at the owers, then said, “Your Highness has sent the princess to cultivate her mind in a convent. What of He Zhong?”
“He has been wrongly accused,” I said, “and he must be compensated for it. I asked Qili to nd something like an academy where I can send him once he has recovered. It will be advantageous to take this time to add some benevolence to my reputation.”
Yun Yu turned around. “Your Highness Prince Huai acts more and more as if he already occupied that highest seat.”
My hand froze. I put down my cup.
“Do not worry, Your Highness,” said Yun Yu. “There is no one around.”
“Supervisor Yun,” I said, “some things are best left unsaid.”
Yun Yu smiled. “I hear and obey. But don’t you suspect there is more to the princess’s behavior? In causing this scandal, it seems as if she was deliberately trying to ruin your reputation, even if she had to give up her life for it. Perhaps she received instructions from some quarter. As for He Zhong…”
“I am aware,” I said. “Still, I will meet all challenges by holding steady.”
Yun Yu said, “It’s getting late. I will take my leave.”
When he walked up to me, he stopped. In a lower voice, he told me, “The evening of the day after tomorrow, at Yuehua Pavilion. Do not fail to come due to misgivings about your reputation, Your Highness. My father and Lord Wang asked me particularly to notify you. Also, there is the matter of Liu Tongyi. Your Highness would be wise to keep your distance from him. I am sure some indispensable plan must be motivating Your Highness to approach him, but I think that he is a very di cult character and worry that Your Highness will end up in a thorny predicament.”
“Yes, I am aware. I will be careful.”
Yun Yu left then. I sat there, watching his gure retreat into the distance and disappear at the turn of a narrow path.
Yun Yu, Yun Yu—youthful and accomplished, with his high position and great authority, he was all but unparalleled, like a peony in full bloom. At his age, everything about him was already exceptional.
Why did he insist on plotting rebellion with his father?
The next day, I went to the palace to tell the emperor and the empress dowager what arrangements I had made for the princess.
I had meant to see Qizhe rst, but a young eunuch told me that His Majesty was attending to o cial business in the imperial study, so I turned aside and went to see the empress dowager.
When the empress dowager had heard out my arrangements for the princess, she said nothing. After a long moment, with her eyes half closed, she said, “Alas. When I arranged your marriage, I thought that, as Li Yue was an upright man, his daughter was sure to have been carefully brought up, that she would be a well-bred girl of good moral character. Wang Qin and Yun Tang both came to me at the time and also requested that their daughters be betrothed to you. I considered these three young women: Wang Qin’s daughter is an upright, well-bred girl, but she isn’t as attractive as Li Yue’s daughter. With your looks, Prince Huai, only a beauty would suit you. Yun Tang’s daughter is attractive, but I’ve heard that her temper isn’t very good. Little Yun Yu has such a sharp tongue, yet at home even he goes in fear of his big sister. Moreover, Yun Tang is His Majesty’s grand tutor and might be said to belong to your generation. If his daughter were to marry you, that would be mixing the generations. So upon consideration, I selected Li Yue’s daughter. Who could ever have thought it would turn out like this? It’s all my fault.”
Sitting in the position of lower precedence, I smiled obsequiously. “How could it be your fault? Most of the blame for the princess’s conduct lies with
The empress dowager opened her eyes wide. “Nonsense. How could it be your fault? Hadn’t the princess already started her relationship with this guard before leaving her parents’ home? Li Yue was a loyal minister of the court. How could he have so badly mismanaged his own household and let his daughter carry on like this?”
“Lord Li was busy with a airs of state,” I said. “He can be excused for overlooking matters at home. Moreover, prior to our marriage, the princess had lived a sheltered life with her parents. To speak coarsely, what young girl doesn’t long for romance? She was young and ignorant then. She had read poems about talented scholars and fair ladies. She saw a young man, and she gave him her heart in secret. This is a common occurrence. I am certain that nothing ever really happened between them at the time. When she was married, she might have forgotten about it. But instead, after our marriage…”
I bowed my head and sighed. “It is because I deserted her… So I don’t blame her too much.”
The empress dowager produced a handkerchief and dabbed the corners of her eyes. “Prince Huai, it makes me sick at heart to hear you speak like this.
It was your bad luck. Your heart is open, and your mind is broad. You are so considerate even in your treatment of women… So why has it come to this… What of this? I shall arrange another marriage for you. I’ll be sure to choose you a good match. I have a younger cousin who, like you, is young but belongs to an older generation. She’s seventeen this year and has yet to be betrothed. I’ve watched this child grow up. She is well-behaved and clever, only a little shy. Her zodiac animal also goes well with yours. Why
don’t I have a portrait brought to Huai Manor tomorrow so you can have a look?”
I sighed inwardly. Truly the empress dowager’s wariness of me hadn’t slackened one iota. During the years I had been married to the princess, two or three times a month, she had been brought to the palace by the empress dowager for a talk. Now that the princess had just entered a convent, she wanted to give me her cousin instead.
After a deliberate silence, I said, “If your cousin were willing to marry me, it would be the blessing of three lifetimes. But there are those unspeakable tendencies of mine, as you know… It would be nothing but a waste for any young lady to marry me.”
“I think your hobby is only the slight waywardness of a romantic youth,”
the empress dowager persisted. “You have nothing to worry about. My cousin is dutiful and gentle. She won’t get jealous. Whatever romances you may have on the outside, you need to have a woman at home to support you and help you run the household. There are some things that only a woman can do. You are an only son, Prince Huai, and you are getting on in years.
You ought to be thinking of the next generation.”
This little scheme of the empress dowager’s really was a triumph. She would marry her cousin o to me, and her cousin would watch me day and night and bear my children, and in the future, the empress dowager’s family would even have a share in my family inheritance.
“All right,” I said. “As you are willing to undertake the task, I will ask it of you.”
The empress dowager’s greatest strength was her perseverance. If I kept sidestepping, she would keep chipping away, giving me no peace. I might as well fob her o by agreeing, then worry about it later.
As expected, once I said this, the empress dowager’s expression cleared.
She told me a lot more about her cousin. About another half a shichen later, I nally made my escape and withdrew.
When I came to the imperial study again, Qizhe had concluded his business and a eunuch brought me inside. Upon seeing me, the rst thing Qizhe said was, “You truly are swift and decisive, Imperial Uncle. You had the whole thing settled yesterday morning.”
I smiled bitterly. “There was hardly anything to settle. It just needed to be dealt with quietly with some consideration given to appearances. The empress dowager is truly attentive. Just now she wanted to arrange another marriage and betroth one of Your Majesty’s cousin-aunts to me.”
Qizhe’s expression stilled. Then he asked, “Did you agree?”
“I evaded, saying that my bad habit couldn’t be changed, and it would be a waste of the young lady’s time, but the empress dowager’s kindness is di cult to refuse, so I…”
Qizhe tilted his head as he looked at me. The corners of his mouth tipped up slightly. “So you have come to lodge a complaint against our mother. You want us to help you get out of it?” There was some meaning hidden in the corners of his mouth. “You must be relieved now that the princess has gone to a convent.”
I remained silent.
Qizhe walked behind his desk and sat in his chair. He took a brush from the brush pot and toyed with it. “We can say something to our mother, but how are you going to thank us?”
I bowed and said, “Your Majesty is understanding. The imperial grace is vast. I am moved to tears of gratitude.”
The shaft of the brush in Qizhe’s hand gently touched his chin. “Just that?
How stingy of you.”
Hard-pressed, I said, “But it is not as though I can casually invite Your Majesty to dinner. I’m all but facing nancial ruin from how much of my money Qitan has borrowed lately, and I have nothing worth o ering Your Majesty.”
Twirling the brush, Qizhe said, “At your house the other day, we saw a peach stone carved with the Banquet of the Eight Immortals.5 A most fascinating object.”
Goodness, my nephew the emperor had sharp eyes. That night in the front hall, he had been surrounded by eunuchs and attendants, yet he had still seen something so minuscule.
“Your Majesty’s eyesight is excellent. I could not obtain such a ne object myself. It was a gift.”
“Oh? You cannot part with it, Imperial Uncle?” said Qizhe. “Could it be that it was a gift from a lover?”
I’d known when I heard the words “Imperial Uncle” that this would go badly. I quickly said, “How could that be? I will go home today and have it packed up and sent to the palace to be presented to Your Majesty.”
Qizhe smiled in satisfaction.
After a little while, I asked for leave to withdraw. I had already turned around when I heard Qizhe speak behind me. “Chengjun.”
I looked back. Qizhe was leaning back in his chair, looking at me. “Don’t worry. We will make certain that no new princess crosses your threshold.”
I bowed again. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”
Upon leaving the imperial study, I walked slowly along the path. For some reason, when Qizhe had called me “Chengjun,” it had given me a peculiar sensation.
I remember the rst time Qizhe called me by my courtesy name. It was the day his reign formally began and also his fteenth birthday. I had come to the palace with a jade scepter to congratulate him. As the occasion was a formal one, I performed full obeisance and prostrated myself. It was then that I heard Qizhe say, “Rise, Chengjun.”
All the ministers were gathered in the great hall. When he said this, an absolute hush fell over the hall.
I raised my head slightly, stunned.
After a moment of quiet, the empress dowager, sitting beside him, stood and said, “How can Your Majesty address Prince Huai like this? He is Your Majesty’s imperial uncle. It’s improper to call an elder by name!”
Qizhe pressed his lips together in silence. His clear, bright eyes were focused on me.
“The empress dowager overstates the matter,” I quickly said with a smile.
“It is a form of a ectionate favor for His Majesty to address me in this way.
While I am His Majesty’s uncle, before that I am His Majesty’s subject.
Indeed, I must express my gratitude that His Majesty is willing to address me by name.”
I touched my head to the ground again. “Thank you, Your Majesty.” When I rose, I saw Qizhe still looking at me, but now there was a trace of a smile on his lips.
From that day forward, Qizhe’s form of address toward me became confused. He called me Imperial Uncle, Prince Huai, or Chengjun according to his whims. I wasn’t strongly attached to any form of address, and,
anyway, he was the emperor; I had no choice but to go along with his moods.
It was also from then on that Qizhe seemed to become a di erent person.
Before, he had been a taciturn child, even a little frail. After taking up the reins of power, he altered day by day, as if undergoing a complete transformation.
Qizhe had been appointed crown prince at birth. His upbringing had been di erent from the late emperor’s other sons, and he had seldom left the palace. In his generation of princes and princes’ sons, he had originally been the most distant from me.
Until one particular year. I remember that he looked to be about nine or ten. The late emperor was still alive then, and so was my mother. She was celebrating her birthday that day, shortly after the New Year. Qitan, Qifei, and the other princes had come with their consort mothers to play at Huai Manor; Qili, Qiqian, and the other princes’ sons, as well as Yun Yu, Wang Xuan, and the other sons of important courtiers had also come with the grown-ups. The empress made an unexpected appearance as well, and even brought the crown prince, Qizhe. My mother hardly had time to greet all the distinguished guests who had come for her birthday. Children don’t like to attend banquets; they rushed out into the back garden to play. A dusting of snow was still falling as a whole passel of children ran around in the snow and rolled snowballs. The attendants were on tenterhooks.
Only Qizhe sat on the veranda, wrapped in a fur coat as he watched the others play. Because he was crown prince and would one day be emperor, the whole crowd of children, having received instructions from the adults, didn’t dare play with him in such a carefree manner. What if they shoved or
yanked the future emperor in their roughhousing? He might remember it when he inherited the throne.
So Qizhe could only sit there. His hand warmer, cushion, backrest, and even teacup had all been brought from the palace. A crowd of young and old eunuchs stood by to attend him. He sat there not moving a muscle, like a puppet child.
I also stood on the veranda, keeping an eye on the children to ensure they didn’t trip and fall. If anything happened, I went to help. As I stood watch, I saw an old eunuch o er tea to the little crown prince with a little velvet handkerchief under the cup. The little crown prince put his hand warmer on his knees and solemnly raised his little hands to take the teacup. He took tiny sips. The sight made me want to laugh.
Perhaps Qizhe noticed me looking at him. He turned his bright black eyes on me, then immediately lowered his lashes and turned his head away.
I thought to myself, The empress has raised this prince to be fussier than a little princess. Comparing him to my other nephews as they ran around the courtyard like wild rabbits was enough to send anyone into a dither.
As I thought this, Qizhe once more turned his head to look at me. When I looked at him, he responded again by turning his head away immediately.
Perhaps the child was shy and felt awkward. I was just thinking I might coax a few words out of him when, in the courtyard, Qitan, Qili and the other children shouted, “Uncle Jun, Uncle Jun…”
I trotted over. Qitan pointed at a plum blossom tree and said, “Uncle Jun, I want a ower!”
I reached up to pick one, but Qitan tugged on my robe and said, “I want to pick it myself!”
So I held him up so he could pick the plum blossom himself. Once Qitan was back on the ground, Qifei, Qili, and the others gathered around my knees, clamoring that they wanted owers too. I held each of them up in turn until the plum blossom tree was half bald.
Among the late emperor’s sons, Qifei had always been fearfully canny.
Holding up his ower, he said, “I’m going to give this to my brother the crown prince.” He trotted over to the veranda to give it to Qizhe. The other children also ran, following him from the courtyard, chirping and buzzing.
One child, I forget which, bumped into the eunuch beside Qizhe. The eunuch stumbled, and the tea in the pot he was holding spilled right onto Qizhe.
There was instant chaos. The tea wasn’t scalding, and Qizhe’s clothes were thick, but he still got half-soaked, and the eunuch was so scared that his hands shook uncontrollably. I had to go pick Qizhe up. Next to me, someone berated the child responsible for the accident.
It was then that Qizhe unexpectedly spoke: “There is nothing the matter with me. Do not scold him or punish him.”
His tone was extraordinarily unperturbed. I was surprised in spite of myself. Children these days really were each more mature than the last.
Qizhe’s clothes were soaked through, but he had nothing to change into on hand, and my mother and I were not bold enough to give the crown prince my old childhood clothes to wear. In the end we had him take o his outer layer for the time being and sit on a bed wrapped in a quilt while someone went to the palace to fetch him fresh clothes. He sat there, still not moving a muscle. I asked him if he wanted to eat a pastry. He nodded silently with his eyes cast down. I asked whether he wanted a walnut cookie or a mixed-nut cake. He looked at the two plates and still said nothing. I had
to bring both plates up to him. He looked at the walnut cookie plate. Only when I picked up a cookie and presented it to him did his hand reach out of the quilt to take it. He brought it to his lips and nibbled on it.
An old eunuch said to me with a smile, “His Highness the Crown Prince isn’t very fond of speaking when he visits an unfamiliar place.”
I felt overpowering unease at this.
From that day forward, when Qitan and the others occasionally came to Huai Manor to play, Qizhe came with them. Perhaps because he had become better acquainted with me on my mother’s birthday, he came with fewer attendants and less ceremony, about the same as the late emperor’s other sons, and he wasn’t as constrained as he had been that day. He became more and more open, except that he still didn’t talk much. When he saw me at the palace, he would greet me, awkwardly calling out, “Uncle Jun.”
When my father had been out on the battle eld, he had loved to bring home rare and strange items. It was in large part on account of these things that the late emperor’s sons enjoyed coming to Huai Manor so much, especially Qitan. He never stood on ceremony when he took a fancy to something. He had to have it, even if it took throwing a tantrum. But Qizhe was di erent. He never asked for anything, only looked. If he took a liking to something, he would keep looking at it, apparently indi erent, till I couldn’t stand it anymore and brought the thing to him and asked whether it was to the crown prince’s liking. Then he would say with great dignity,
“Yes, it’s acceptable.” He would take it and stash it away, acting as if I had begged him to accept it.
So I thought to myself then that, while this child was a little reserved, on this point, he really did have the makings of an emperor.
As I walked, I recalled the past, and felt unexpectedly moved. In the blink of an eye, my imperial nephews had all grown up. I had made it this far without thinking anything of it, but looking back, I realized that many years had passed.
I stood by the palace wall and watched the oating clouds on the horizon.
I couldn’t resist sighing with emotion. “Oh, how quickly the years go by…”
Behind me, a voice said, “Your Highness Prince Huai.”
If a moment ago I had felt like an old scholar tree watching the green saplings around me shoot up graceful and tender, when I heard that voice, I instantly felt like a willow branch in a late spring breeze whose leaves had just turned the perfect green.
I turned to look at him. In a voice like a soft willow frond, I said,
“Chancellor Liu.”
I waited for Liu Tongyi to reach me, then walked beside him. He said to me,
“I think I just heard Your Highness lamenting the passage of the years. Were you moved by the sight of the setting sun?”
With an embarrassed smile, I said, “No, I happened to think of the past, so I felt a little nostalgic.”
Liu Tongyi made an understanding sound. Keeping my composure, I snuck a glance at his quietly elegant face. If he had been someone else and said precisely the same thing—Yun Yu, for example, or Qitan, Qili, or any of the rest—he would certainly have been teasing me.
But how could Ransi tease me?
He must have been expounding on an artistic conception, like a poem. It was just that I was too vulgar myself and had understood the words to be
vulgar. But my response couldn’t betray my weakness. I had to match Ransi by being more poetic.
So I looked at the setting sun, which was still bright enough to dazzle, and said gently, “Chancellor Liu, do you like to watch the sunset? Every time I see the setting sun, I think of poetry. The words oat in my mind like ruddy clouds in the sky.”
Liu Tongyi brought his sleeve up to his mouth and gave a gentle cough. I waited and heard no response from him. I quickly asked, “Are you unwell, Chancellor Liu? Would you like me to see you home?”
With a trace of a smile, Liu Tongyi said, “Oh, it’s nothing. There was just something in my throat.”
Perhaps I was too moved by the sunset. Suddenly I asked Liu Tongyi a question I thought I would never dare to ask.
“Chancellor Liu,” I asked, “what do you think of me?”
As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I regretted them. What could he think of me? He certainly wouldn’t tell the truth to my face.
Sure enough, Liu Tongyi stared at me. At least his expression remained unchanged. He said, “Why does Your Highness ask?”
I quickly said, “Oh, it’s nothing. Perhaps too much has been happening lately, and I’ve started to feel a little heavyhearted. If you don’t want to answer, then take my question as unasked.”
“Be at ease, Your Highness,” said Liu Tongyi. “Some things are best left in the past.”
In saying so, he gently bypassed my question. When I heard this, I felt a peculiar sensation. He had steered the conversation away because that question had been inconvenient to answer, but he preferred not to answer rather than fob me o with jargon. I felt a little grati ed. While his words of
consolation were only said out of politeness, I was still happy to be comforted by him.
I don’t know why I should have fallen in love with Liu Tongyi; given the present situation at court, even if that rotten old man Wang Qin one day began carrying on a clandestine love a air with the empress dowager, Liu Tongyi and I would still never stand together.
The Lius were an illustrious noble family whose ancestor had aided our rst emperor in establishing the dynasty and received the position of imperial chancellor in return. O cial families often live up to the folk saying that wealth doesn’t last out three generations, and fame doesn’t last ve, but the Liu clan has always ourished. Each generation has produced one or two senior o cials who unwaveringly repaid the court’s favor, sparing no e ort to perform their duty. If only a single plaque of honor for a loyal family existed in the world, then it would surely hang above the door of the Liu residence.
Liu Tongyi’s grandfather, Liu Xian, had a younger sister who had been the Tongguang emperor’s empress. When the Tongguang emperor was still on the throne and my father was a young man who had just set foot on the battle eld, then supervisor of the Imperial Censorate and brother-in-law to the emperor Liu Xian repeatedly submitted memorials to the Tongguang emperor asking that, for the sake of his throne and the crown prince’s future, His Majesty refrain from giving an imperial prince too much military authority. He strongly advised that the Tongguang emperor keep my father in idleness. Luckily, the emperor did not listen, but later, his son, the late emperor, kept his guard up against my father as if against a would-be thief.
His Uncle Liu Xian’s contributions there had been indispensable.
Liu Tongyi’s father also once had a great future ahead of him, but sadly his luck was poor. Just after he became the fourth-rank prefect of the Jiangdong Prefecture, he contracted lung disease in the course of managing a ood and died young.
Liu Tongyi was a few years older than Qizhe, Qitan, Qili, Yun Yu, and the others. There was no connection between the Liu residence and Huai Manor, and he had only returned to the capital after his father died of illness, so I had seen nothing of him as a child.
The rst time I met him would have been at the palace. I think it was the fteenth day of the eighth month, the Mid-Autumn Festival. The late emperor was already quite seriously ill at the time, but he had still exerted himself to hold a moon-viewing banquet in the imperial gardens. The important ministers and their sons had all been invited. Liu Xian must have been in his seventies or eighties then, his hair and beard white, but he had still come tottering to attend. He remained the head of the court’s honest o cials. Seated at the banquet, he was like the full moon itself. My future father-in-law, Li Yue, and the other so-called loyal ministers and able generals who professed themselves aloof from politics clustered around him like stars. Of course there was no place for me among them. I had to sit among my cousin princes or with Yun Tang, Wang Qin, and such others. I was still quite young then and had nothing to say to them either. I felt dreadfully dull, so I drank some cups of wine and, on the pretext of going to empty my bladder, went for a stroll through the imperial gardens’
shrubbery.
Qitan, Qili, and so on were running around amusing themselves in the imperial gardens with palace maids and eunuchs going in circles after them.
I stood there watching them awhile, then headed for somewhere quieter.
Upon coming to the imperial pond, I nally stood still.
A gentle breeze, a bright moon, the scent of osmanthus owers, and a sky full of stars oating upon the surface of the water. Vapor mingled with the scent of owers and poured into my spirit. I felt my heart become as clear as the pond water.
I stood there for a time. Just as I was about to move on, at the far end of the covered walkway beside the pond where I was headed, I saw a seated youth.
I wouldn’t say I was a cutsleeve back then. But presented with such a scene, with such a moon, such a breeze, such water, such a scent of owers, at my rst glimpse of that beautiful and elegant youth, for an instant I thought he was the spirit of the osmanthus owers given human form.
It was only a momentary daze. When I looked again, I knew that wasn’t the case.
The youth appeared to be fteen or sixteen years old, dressed in a thin robe. Though he seemed subdued, it was clear at a glance there was nothing ordinary about him. He leaned against a pillar of the walkway as he sat on the steps, holding a book in his hands and reading it by the light of the lantern above his head.
He must have been part of some courtier’s family, but why had he brought a book to an imperial banquet and snuck o here to read it?
I guessed that either this youth really did love books as much as his own life, or a family elder had instructed him to do this. If someone saw him, especially the emperor, he would ask, What family does this diligent youth belong to? That should get his reputation o the ground.
The youth hadn’t noticed me. He held his book in both hands, all his attention apparently focused on reading. It seemed he wasn’t doing it for show.
I stood there, then stepped forward. “Aren’t you worried that reading by such dim light will damage your eyesight?”
The youth seemed startled. He raised his head, quickly shut the book in his hands, and stood. I smiled and took a couple more steps forward. His expression gradually calmed. He bowed and said, “Greetings, Your Highness Prince Huai.”
Presumably we had met earlier at the banquet, but I hadn’t taken notice.
“No need for such formality,” I said. “Just speak naturally. Which family do you belong to? Why have you come here to read?”
“My name is Liu Tongyi,” he answered. “Liu Xian is my grandfather.”
So he was Liu Xian’s grandson. It was understandable then that he would have run o to a quiet place to read. He stood there with an easy manner and the re nement of a person raised amid stacks of Confucian classics, be tting of a scion of the Liu clan.
He was very good-looking now, but perhaps in another decade, there would be a young Liu Xian at court.
Alas, what a pity to lose the youth he was now.
I scrutinized him, from his face to the book in his hands, and found that despite his easy and respectful manner, his sleeves were shaking slightly. He was in the process of stealthily concealing the book he had been reading in his sleeve.
“What were you reading just now?” I asked with feigned indi erence.
Liu Tongyi’s expression appeared a little discom ted, but he still said with apparent ease, “Oh, an ordinary book.”
“Uh, it’s just the standard Mencius. Your Highness Prince Huai must have read it.” As he said this, his eyes ickered, like water rippling in the moonlight.
I glanced at the blue corner sticking out of his sleeve. “Is that so.” I came a little closer and took hold of the sleeve where he was hiding the book, then looked down into his eyes and said, smiling, “You must not have much experience reading books in secret. You have to pay attention to whether the book is upside down when you hide it in your sleeve. You’ve even shown me the title.”
I raised his arm and took the book from his sleeve. Written on the cover was the title: The Legend of the Red-Bearded Hero. This was a chivalric romance that had once been popular in the bookbinderies.
Liu Xian’s grandson was reading this?
I looked at him in astonishment. “Is your name really Liu, not Wang or Yun?”