The Wang and Yun children were all crafty. If they were caught misbehaving, they could lie about who they were without batting an eyelash.
He looked at me a little doubtfully, his eyes as utterly clear as the water of the star- lled pond.
I rolled up the book and did right by him: “The Legend of the Red-Bearded Hero is an imitation, plagiarized from The Divine White Jade Sword, and inferior to it. Moreover, this copy you have is a censored edition.”
He gave an exclamation and said, “I think this edition is already excellent.
While the language is direct and unornamented, it is precise and penetrating. The poetry appears crude at rst glance, but carefully considered, it feels exceptionally apt.”
Watching him speak so earnestly, I couldn’t help feeling amused. He must have been telling the truth about being Liu Xian’s grandson. “That’s because you haven’t read anything better. Among writers of storybooks and romances, this Master of Snowstorm House can only be considered average, and his language is all copied from the Scholar of the Red Leaves of the Western Hills, the author of The Divine White Jade Sword. There are also other authors, such as the Mad Drunkard, Bai Ruyi, and so on—they are truly outstanding.”
Liu Tongyi’s eyes were bright, his expression rapt.
I continued, “You’ll be able to nd them if you sneak over to a bookbindery. In the southwest corner of the capital, on Copper Coin Lane, is a shop that’s quite well-stocked, where you can even buy uncensored editions.”
Liu Tongyi’s eyes shone even brighter. Looking into them, I couldn’t help adding, “Although… you should probably still buy the clean editions. The full editions might not be a good t for you.”
These romances had many descriptions of love between their heroes and various women. The so-called clean editions were what was left over after these parts were excised. I certainly wouldn’t read them, but I was worried the things in the full editions would be indigestible to Liu Xian’s grandson.
Frowning slightly, Liu Tongyi said, “Why?”
I could only say vaguely, “The full editions can be slightly explicit concerning matters between men and women.”
Liu Tongyi said, “How…”
He must have wanted to ask how they were explicit, but as soon as the single word “how” was out of his mouth, he had a realization and fell silent.
I looked at him by moonlight and lamplight; his face seemed slightly ushed.
I couldn’t resist saying with a laugh, “Haha, you see? Like I said, you’re better o reading the clean editions.”
Liu Tongyi stared at me without speaking. His blush seemed to deepen.
As I laughed, I heard distant footsteps approaching us and returned the book to him at once. “Someone’s coming. Hide the book well, and remember when you read it in secret at home not to hide it in your bedding, or it may be shaken out by servants making the bed. Under the bed board is a more reliable hiding place.” I drew closer to him and whispered,
“I got beaten when I was little because I didn’t hide my books properly. It’s a bloody tale.”
Liu Tongyi had been listening with unwavering attention. Now he laughed.
The footsteps came closer and closer. I heard someone calling for me:
“Your Highness Prince Huai? Is that Your Highness over there? His Majesty has summoned you.”
So I hurriedly bade farewell to Liu Tongyi, who tucked the book into his sleeve properly and stood there. As I turned the corner of the path, I saw him leaving by the walkway as well.
After that, I did not see him again, and the Liu family was not fond of publicity, so I heard hardly any news of him either. Bit by bit, the encounter left my mind till I had all but forgotten it.
I remembered him only some years later. It was not long after Qizhe’s personal reign began, when Liu Tongyi was named the Zhuangyuan, rst place graduate of that year’s palace examinations, and his name spread overnight throughout the capital.
At the Qionglin Banquet held to honor the top three graduates of the palace examination, I was among those in attendance. As a rule, the banquet was held in the imperial gardens, right beside the imperial pond.
When I arrived at the palace, the three new top graduates and the o cials attending the banquet were all present. Only the emperor had yet to arrive. I entered the gardens and from a distance glimpsed the bright red robe of the Zhuangyuan among a cluster of peonies. Once again, the events of the fteenth day of the eighth month some years ago came to mind. I wondered what that youth who had been reading a popular novel in stealth had become. He had indeed been surpassingly beautiful at the time, but there are people who are good-looking when young but, as they mature, grow in an incredibly ugly direction. I hoped he didn’t look like Liu Xian minus the beard, wrinkles, and white hair.
I was prepared to meet him and take an idle moment to ask whether he had gone on to read The Divine White Jade Sword, and had he read the full edition or the clean one?
The gure in the red Zhuangyuan robe had its back to me, in conversation with the second- and third-place graduates and some elderly courtiers. The rst to see me was the secretariat director, who was facing the path, and he said at once, smiling, “His Highness Prince Huai is here.
Greetings, Your Highness.”
Disclaiming formality, I came forward. The others turned around, and I saw that red-robed gure turn as well. As he did, night ended above the star- lled pond shining in the moonlight of years past, and the morning sun shone bright. The lingering osmanthus fragrance dispersed, and the parasol tree leaves grew green, the crape myrtle owers dense.
He lifted his sleeves and bowed his head. “Respectful greetings to Your Highness Prince Huai.”
I heard my own voice say, “No need for such formality, Zhuangyuan Liu.”
And in that moment, there was no way I could have brought myself to deliver my prepared quip.
People are so strange. The whole world takes me for a treacherous prince, and I have always felt unbearably wronged by it, always viewed myself as a loyal subject and a good person. But when I saw Liu Tongyi, I knew instantly that he and I would never be the same kind of person. It was as if a line were drawn before me, plain as day. He stood on the other side of it, like the clearest of clear lakes under the sun, and I stood on this side, like a pot of cloudy noodle broth. All around us, there was brightness in the dark, darkness in the bright, and none of it as pure as the patch of blue sky above his head.
In a low voice, Yun Tang said, “In a few years we’ll have another Liu Xian.”
“Perhaps,” I said. “And perhaps he’ll surpass Liu Xian.” At the very least he wouldn’t have Liu Xian’s face.
It was over a year ago now that Liu Tongyi had taken up the imperial chancellor’s seal and stood in his blue robe of o ce at the head of the court.
Never before in the history of this dynasty had a man under thirty been appointed imperial chancellor. He was the youngest person in centuries to wear that robe and stand in that position. Yun Tang said to me, “Your Highness Prince Huai’s eye is accurate indeed.” I modestly said, “I do all right.”
That copy of The Legend of the Red-Bearded Hero once read beneath the glass lantern in the walkway of the imperial gardens might have been buried
in some corner beneath sage essays and strategies of administration, or perhaps it had long since been turned into a heap of ashes, swept up, and dusted o .
But at the Qionglin Banquet in the imperial gardens, and when he rst stood before the court in his robe of o ce, I stuck slivers of my soul fast to his sleeve. Like a donkey on a leash, I knew that it was stupid to keep going in circles but had no choice but to revolve around him.
The ancients had a saying—when brought to a certain pass by the pangs of love, a man becomes a sage.
I didn’t know whether in my present situation I amounted to a minor sage or a great sage.
I snuck another glance at Liu Tongyi walking beside me. It would have been better if he, like Yun Yu, could have worn brighter colors more often, and better still if his hair wasn’t always entirely up.
Supposing that in the future I truly did accomplish some staggering labor of loyalty, perhaps that line would disappear. If I asked him then to walk shoulder to shoulder with me, in spirit as well as in body, would he be willing?
Though Liu Tongyi was always in my mind, I had never thought of anything really happening between us. At most I had thought that the preceding scenario might come true, or perhaps in addition to that we could occasionally play weiqi, chat, drink tea, things of that nature.
That would be plenty.
I was moved by my own inner world and on the point of once again sighing with emotion as I looked upon the setting sun.
An irascible voice said darkly beside me, “Imperial Uncle—”
My soul was immediately rankled back from the evening glow into my mortal shell. I turned my head and saw Qitan’s face, as irascible as his voice.
I was astonished. “Where did you crop up from?”
Qitan looked at me dolefully. “Imperial Uncle, I followed you all this way and called to you so many times, and you wouldn’t even look at me.”
“Oh, well,” I said, “I had something on my mind. I didn’t notice.”
My mind had been wandering something erce. Perhaps I had forgotten myself in front of Ransi.
Feigning nonchalance, I swept a glance over at Liu Tongyi. His expression was normal, with a trace of a smile at the corners of his lips; it was probably all right.
I was just about to speak again when a languid voice behind me said,
“Your Highness Prince Dai, I believe I was right to say His Highness Prince Huai wouldn’t come back to himself before he reached the palace gate.
You’ve lost the bet.”
The speaker came up beside Qitan. “Supervisor Yun,” I said, “why are you in the same place as Qitan?”
Yun Yu smiled. Qitan raced to speak rst: “Imperial Uncle, Supervisor Yun and I happened across each other while chasing after you and Chancellor Liu. Don’t misunderstand.”
What do you mean, “don’t misunderstand”?
Smiling, Yun Yu said, “Your Highness Prince Huai and Chancellor Liu have met again?”
“Oh, yes, also a coincidence, a mere coincidence,” I said.
Liu Tongyi stopped walking and said, “Your Highness Prince Huai, it seems His Highness Prince Dai has urgent business to discuss. I will bid you farewell.”
Qitan echoed, “Please stay, Chancellor Liu.”
Yun Yu stood by and watched.
“Was there something else, Your Highnesses?” said Liu Tongyi.
“Oh,” I said, “it was nothing. Only, I thought Prince Dai might not only have been looking for me but also had something to say to Chancellor Liu, so I asked if you would stay for the moment.”
Yun Yu chipped in, “Yes, Your Highness Prince Huai put in a timely word to keep Chancellor Liu back before His Highness Prince Dai could speak. It seems that His Highness Prince Dai does indeed have something important to say to Chancellor Liu.”
It seemed Yun Yu was having a close match with my nephew Qitan today; each said something more awkward than the last.
Fortunately, Liu Tongyi seemed not to have noticed any implications.
With perfect timing, Qitan said, “It’s like this. The other day I put Chancellor Liu and my imperial uncle Prince Huai to the trouble of appraising a fake antique for me, which saved me a considerable sum of money that would otherwise have been wrongly spent. I have put together a banquet at my residence and entreat my imperial uncle and Chancellor Liu to honor me with their presence tonight.”
It wasn’t in vain that I had doted on Qitan since he was little. The child grew more and more capable all the time.
Liu Tongyi made no strenuous e orts to decline. He agreed readily. Of course I had no reason not to agree.
“I see I have no business here,” said Yun Yu, “so I will take my leave.”
He made to turn away. Qitan immediately said, “I entreat Supervisor Yun to honor me with his presence as well. I was the loser in our bet just now,
so I ought to invite you to dinner.” Then to me he said, “Right, Imperial Uncle?”
Why was Qitan talking so strangely today?
All I could do was nod and say, “Of course, of course. That’s only natural.”
Yun Yu looked at Qitan, then at me. He said, “Then I really will go. Do not hide your ne wine, Your Highness Prince Dai.”
Qitan answered at once, smiling, “Of course. I am sure my imperial uncle wouldn’t allow it.”
With the gate of the imperial palace before us, Qitan suddenly tugged on my sleeve and kept me back a couple of steps. He put on a suggestive smile and whispered into my ear, “Imperial Uncle, Supervisor Yun and I followed you for ages, watching you with all your attention focused on walking beside Chancellor Liu. At dinner, leave Chancellor Liu to me. You can focus on talking to Supervisor Yun.”
I choked on the wind. “Supervisor Yun?”
Qitan apped my sleeve and winked. “Imperial Uncle, outsiders may not be able to tell, but your nephew knows everything.”
You know… what?
Qitan said in my ear, “I was just saying to my imperial brother how these last few years you’ve… well…” Tossing out this statement, he released my sleeve and made straight for Liu Tongyi. “Chancellor Liu!”
So now I knew who had spoken before the emperor to make him say there was something more to my relationship with Yun Yu.
I had nothing left to hope for from Prince Dai. My lungs ached from vexation, and I couldn’t even call him a little bastard, because if he was a little bastard, that made me the little bastard’s uncle.
Settling my breathing, I went home to change into casual clothes, then came to Dai Manor.
Liu Tongyi and Yun Yu had both already taken their seats. Qitan really knew how to put on a production. With four people eating, he had set two tables.
The two long narrow tables faced each other, one on either side of the small hall. Food and wine were laid out on both tables and two chairs had been placed at each one. One table for him and Liu Tongyi, one for me and Yun Yu. Quite a skillful partition.
The whole width of the center of the hall lay between the two tables, eighteen thousand li in all.
“There are only four of us eating,” I said, “and neither Chancellor Liu nor Supervisor Yun is an outsider. Couldn’t you just have laid one table? It would be cheerful and companionable. You can’t be worried that Supervisor Yun and I will ght you for the food?”
“You, Chancellor Liu, and Supervisor Yun are all honored guests,” said Qitan. “It would be too vulgar to heap a single table with dishes. That’s no way to receive any of you. I have made other arrangements.” Saying so, he picked up a pitcher to pour wine for Liu Tongyi. “Chancellor Liu, if you’ll permit me.”
Liu Tongyi half rose from his seat. “That is too great an honor for me. I will pour for myself.”
He took the pitcher from Qitan. Perhaps it was my mistake, but Qitan seemed to brush Liu Tongyi’s hand.
Yun Yu was holding a wine pitcher and pouring wine. He gently elbowed my arm and aimed a look in Qitan’s direction. He had seen it too. So I wasn’t being oversensitive.
As I ate, I watched the table opposite. Qitan was a urry of movement, pausing hardly at all.
“Chancellor Liu, try this. This came from the western regions’ tribute. It’s called something-something-ke sausage and contains foreign pork, not like our ordinary pork.”
Vulgar.
“Chancellor Liu, what do you think of this dish? Too bland, or too strong?”
I put down my empty cup and picked up the wine pitcher to re ll it. Yun Yu idly pushed almonds around in a dish with his chopsticks. Qitan had expended all his skills on Liu Tongyi today; Yun Yu didn’t eat sweet and salty foods, and the dishes in front of him just happened to be exactly those.
I rolled up my sleeve and swapped two of his dishes with untouched ones in front of me. Yun Yu said quietly to me, “Why does it strike me that Prince Dai is competing with you, Your Highness?”
I frowned. I recalled that Qitan had never shared my interests. Yun Yu, with a false smile, said, “Your Highness is free not to believe me. Would you like to make a bet?”
Soon, I understood the true motive behind Qitan’s solicitousness.
Two domestics brought a small table to the center of the room. On it was a brocade box.
Smiling brightly, Qitan said to Liu Tongyi, “Chancellor Liu, I’ve never had any indulgence apart from collecting antiques. Now that I have you here, there are a few things I’d like to trouble you to have a look at for me.” He set down his ivory chopsticks and clapped. The two servants opened the box and lifted out a jade vase.
Qitan said, “This is said to be a love token given by Lü Buwei to Lady Zhao.6 A sprig of peach blossoms is featured on the vase, expressing love.
What does Chancellor Liu think of this vase?”
Liu Tongyi looked at the vase and, with a faint smile, said, “The jade is good quality.”
Then he said nothing further.
Qitan waited, then asked, “Its provenance?”
“I cannot be certain,” said Liu Tongyi.
Qitan’s expression dimmed. He wasn’t stupid in matters like these. Liu Tongyi had noticed something amiss but couldn’t very well say so.
Qitan waved a hand. The two servants packed up the vase in its brocade box and bore it away. Then they returned bearing another box with a wine pitcher inside it. Qitan said that it was of roughly the same period as the vase and had been used by Ying Zheng. 7
Liu Tongyi praised the pattern on the pot, and then once more refrained from saying more. Qitan’s expression darkened again.
I sat there looking on as he had item after item brought out, and drooped increment by increment at each appraisal. I couldn’t quite bear to watch. I whispered feelingly to Yun Yu, “He’s already bought them. He may as well set them out as though they were real. Why submit himself to such torment?”
Yun Yu shot me a glance. “Your Highness Prince Huai appears greatly distressed.”
I sighed. “Of course I’m distressed. More of my own money went into those things than Prince Dai’s.”
Yun Yu raised a hand to re ll my wine cup. “Your Highness’s money went to doting on your nephew. It didn’t go to waste.” His smile showed great
Qitan’s precious antiques were still being brought in one after another.
No sooner had a clay horse been taken away than a pretty serving girl came forward gracefully bearing a jade tray.
“Why is it a lovely lady this time?” Yun Yu asked.
“You may not be aware, Supervisor Yun,” said Qitan, “that this treasure can only be handled by a woman.”
The beautiful serving girl knelt with the jade tray in her hands. On the tray lay a piece of yellow silk cloth, upon which was a piece of jade.
Qitan said, “This was a grave good that a lady of the former Kingdom of Wu was buried holding in her mouth. It can prevent a corpse from rotting and keep it looking as it did in life. It holds strong yin energy in it, so no matter what the season, it is cold as a piece of ice in winter. Will you feel it, Chancellor Liu?”
I could not help saying, “A thing from the mouth of a corpse, and you ask Chancellor Liu to touch it at the dinner table? Do you wish to keep Chancellor Liu from eating?”
Qitan paused. Then, as if this had just occurred to him, he apologized repeatedly. Liu Tongyi naturally said it was no matter, and he really did reach out to touch the piece of jade. He said, “This item is a true treasure, a rare sight. I have only read of it in books and never thought to see it with my own eyes in Your Highness’s residence today. This is the blessing of three lifetimes.”
Qitan was startled. His eyes glazed over and xed upon Liu Tongyi.
“Chancellor Liu, are you telling the truth?”
Liu Tongyi smiled. “This item in Your Highness’s collection is truly extraordinary.”
Qitan’s face opened like the seed of a sterculia in water. His smile was radiant.
Liu Tongyi stood and went to the washroom to clean his hands. Qitan, holding his wine cup, stared after him. He tipped back his head and drained the rest of his wine in one gulp. “Imperial Uncle, I just had a thought…”
I saw the peculiar light shining in his eyes, and instinct told me that he was about to say something just as peculiar to match.
Sure enough, Qitan, squeezing his wine cup and rotating it, stared at some point in empty space as he said, “Just now, when Chancellor Liu smiled at me like that… I suddenly thought that if he were a woman, I would certainly wed him!”
Qitan looked at me with a burning gaze. “Imperial Uncle, do you think I’m becoming like you…”
Unexpectedly, the rst thing I thought of was Qitan’s young wife, who at only seventeen years old was reported to be eight months pregnant.
“You ought to give careful consideration to this question,” I said.
Qitan squeezed his wine cup again. “Consideration has no place in this.
Imperial Uncle, I always tell you the truth, and Supervisor Yun is hardly an outsider. How can a thing like this be up to me?” No wine remained in his cup, but he still brought it to his lips. “Just now, when Chancellor Liu nodded like that and smiled, my heart… my heart beat fast…”
Yun Yu said, “Prince Dai’s symptoms do resemble Your Highness’s somewhat.”
I shot a glance at Qitan. “Your heart beat fast, did it? Here, I have something to show you.”
I felt around in my clothes and produced an item I had prepared in advance. I raised it.
“While doing battle in foreign parts, my father took this piece of jade from the body of a khan. He presented it to the Tongguang emperor, who then graciously granted my father possession of it. It was passed down among the foreigners from generation to generation since the Han period, and its authenticity is undeniable.”
Qitan’s eyes glazed over again. His gaze was glued to the piece of jade in my hand. “Imperial Uncle…”
I waggled the jade ornament. “Is your heart beating fast?”
Qitan’s eyes were lled with ardor. He nodded. “Yes.”
“Do you feel the same looking at me as you did earlier looking at Chancellor Liu?” I asked.
Qitan’s face ushed bright red at once. He nodded again.
I put the piece of jade away and said solemnly, “No need to worry. You aren’t a cutsleeve.”
Qitan’s eyes were xed on the place where I had stashed the piece of jade, his gaze like a hook.
I pretended not to see, lifted the wine pitcher, and poured myself a cup. I counseled him earnestly, “You aren’t a child anymore, and there are words you ought to weigh carefully in your mind before you say them aloud. Had what you said just now been overheard, I would have been standing accused.
Your mother would have come to settle the score with me, or else she would have gone to the empress dowager to complain that you were spending all your time with me, and I had led you astray.”
The two hooks in Qitan’s eyes glittered bright as snow. He said, “Imperial Uncle, you are indeed solicitous toward your nephew. I only said what I did because I was talking to you, and Supervisor Yun is part of our circle.
Through your instruction, Imperial Uncle, I have seen the light. Only, I thought that while the feeling was similar just now, it still wasn’t precisely the same as when I was looking at Chancellor Liu. Won’t you demonstrate it again for me, Imperial Uncle?”
“This is as far as my instruction goes,” I said placidly. “The rest depends on your own comprehension.”
Qitan dimmed and bent his head to serve himself food. I added, “Most importantly, when Chancellor Liu returns, don’t say anything to his face that might lead to a misunderstanding. Chancellor Liu is a man of high moral character, a pillar of His Majesty’s court. You cannot be too irreverent.”
Yun Yu said, smiling, “Your Highnesses have such an a ectionate relationship.”
Qitan picked up his food. “Imperial Uncle, Liu Tongyi must have seen everything there is to see to get his chancellor’s rank. Everyone who’s friendly with him says that Chancellor Liu is di erent from all the other Lius. He is easygoing, open-minded, and extremely understanding. Why do you imagine him to be such a pedant, Imperial Uncle? What’s more,” he said, tugging one side of his mouth into a suggestive smile, “Chancellor Liu is two years older than Supervisor Yun and still unmarried. Who knows what might be the reason for that…”
For some reason, when I heard his concluding remark, it felt as though my heart were being raked by claws, then squeezed. I coughed and said, “Do not discuss people behind their backs. If Chancellor Liu should come back and overhear…”
At this point, a daub of pale blue-green appeared at the door, and I hastily shut my mouth. Liu Tongyi stepped inside and resumed his seat. Qitan said,
“You’re back, Chancellor Liu. I was just discussing you behind your back with my imperial uncle. My imperial uncle praised you as a man of high moral character, a pillar of the court. I have never known him to praise just anyone like that. Just for that, I must ask you to determine the authenticity of a treasure my imperial uncle has brought with him today.”
Qitan hadn’t given up, and he would stop at nothing. When he had concluded his remarks, Liu Tongyi matter-of-factly looked my way and said with a smile, “Thank you for your praise, Your Highness Prince Huai, I am unworthy. I wonder what treasure Your Highness has brought?”
When he looked at me, it was like the sweet breeze of late spring wafting over me. “Oh, merely a foreign bauble. I won’t trouble…”
Qitan cut me o midway: “Spare us the civilities, Imperial Uncle.
Chancellor Liu has already agreed, and I want to take advantage of another opportunity to learn the trick of antiques appraisal from him.”
I had no choice but to reach into my robes. The points of the twin hooks in Qitan’s eyes reappeared, shining coldly.
I produced the piece of jade and o ered it to an attendant beside me, letting him convey it to Liu Tongyi. Liu Tongyi held it and said, looking at me, “I am uninformed in the appraisal of foreign works, but from the color and grain of this jade, it must be an antique with quite a history. Besides which, I have seen the design on this ornament in a book. Since the Sui dynasty, this design has been exceedingly rare. It must date roughly to the Han dynasty; however, it is beyond me to provide more detailed observations.”
I gasped in honest admiration. “Chancellor Liu’s reputation as an expert is well-merited.”
Qitan’s face was also full of commendation. “I have been enlightened. The color and grain Chancellor Liu speaks of…” He came close, snatched the piece of jade from Liu Tongyi’s hand, and brought it up to his own nose. “Is this it? Guide me through examining it.”
Once it was in his hands, my piece of jade was as good as gone; there would be no turning back.
Looking at Qitan and that piece of jade, I felt a faint ache in my heart.
Liu Tongyi looked at Qitan’s hand and frowned faintly. “Only, it seems that this mark here is damage made by a blade, and of recent date.” He lifted his hand, took the piece of jade back from Qitan, and studied it with concentration.
“That mark was made when my late father grappled with the enemy leader, a matter of twenty-some years ago,” I said.
Liu Tongyi’s brow relaxed, and he said, “I see.” He o ered the piece of jade to the attendant beside him. “One can almost hear the clash of weapons on that battle eld.”
Under Qitan’s covetous gaze, I took the piece of jade back from the attendant and returned it to my robes. “Its encounter with Chancellor Liu today is like a musician meeting a kindred spirit who can comprehend his music.”
I raised my cup to Liu Tongyi in a show of thanks, and he returned the civility, smiling faintly.
Yun Yu raised his cup as well, and said, “Your Highness Prince Huai’s endless praise for Chancellor Liu makes me so ashamed I can hardly keep my seat.”
Qitan’s head was hanging glumly again, and he was just stu ng food into his mouth. He quickly put in a mu ed word: “I’m the one who ought to be ashamed. Normally my imperial uncle never stops speaking of Supervisor Yun. When I said that my imperial uncle never praises just anyone, it was because Supervisor Yun isn’t ‘just anyone’ to him.”
Yun Yu leaned back in his chair and smiled. Qitan looked fawningly at me with shining eyes. “Imperial Uncle, can you show me that piece of jade again later?”
In that moment, I felt an inexpressible disappointment in my nephew Prince Dai.
“Qitan,” I said seriously, “what you just said is highly open to misinterpretation. Fortunately, only Chancellor Liu is present today, and no one else. Otherwise, if someone were to think that Supervisor Yun is like me, you would be giving o ense.”
“What’s the matter with you lately, Imperial Uncle?” Qitan said in shock.
“You’re like an old woman, nitpicking everything I say. As if Supervisor Yun couldn’t take a joke or look after himself. Though you prefer men, Imperial Uncle, that doesn’t mean everyone who isn’t ‘just anyone’ to you must have that kind of relationship with you. Everyone understands that. Besides which, if you and Supervisor Yun really were in love, then he certainly wouldn’t care. Isn’t that so, Supervisor Yun?” He raised his wine cup and drank a big gulp. “Actually, though, Supervisor Yun, please don’t be o ended if I use you as an example. I think that my imperial uncle must be searching for a remarkable person, someone like yourself. My imperial uncle is currently so loose only because he hasn’t truly fallen in love. His heart is unbound.”
Yun Yu was still half leaning back in his chair. He raised his eyebrows.
All I could do was say sti y, with a dry laugh, “A joke ought to stand up to scrutiny. I’m not Supervisor Yun’s type.”
My statement held many meanings.
First, Yun Yu was indeed not a cutsleeve.
Second, Yun Yu had the typical temperament of an aristocratic scion. His tastes were undiscriminating; he chose brothel boys and girls as it pleased him. Furthermore, everyone knew that Supervisor Yun was somewhat fastidious and only dallied with virgins. For anyone with prior involvements, be they a beauty whose praises rose to the heavens, he wouldn’t spare them so much as a glance.
Third, though Yun Yu was handsome, I had known him for many years and was well acquainted with his disposition; I truly could not conceive that Supervisor Yun might one day willingly submit himself to another in bed.
He was proud and ambitious; Qitan’s signi cant hints making him out to be my lover might already have displeased him.
Qitan nally gained some comprehension. He shook his head and said,
“My imperial uncle is just too romantic. I’ve had too much to drink and let my mouth run. I hope Supervisor Yun will forgive me.”
As I was about to apologize to Yun Yu on Qitan’s behalf, Yun Yu said with a smile, “No matter, Your Highness was only joking with me. As for His Highness Prince Huai’s romanticism, I think you make too much of it. In reality, His Highness Prince Huai’s preferences have never been incompatible with mine.”
Qitan’s comprehension, upon manifesting, frequently rose to a perplexing pinnacle. In this instance, he looked at me, then at Yun Yu. With an astonished and dazed expression, he said, “A-are you saying…” He looked at me again, then turned to Yun Yu, his eyes unexpectedly lled with
admiration. With a sigh, he said, “I never thought he would… Supervisor Yun’s tastes… are quite singular…”
For a moment I was bewildered. Then I understood and all but upended a cup of wine into my lap.
“I have always had a preference for strong avors,” Yun Yu said lightly.
“My appetites are a little di erent from the norm, so I rarely ght over food at the table.”
I sat there watching as a trace of a smile appeared on Liu Tongyi’s lips.
“An eminently sensible position.”
Shortly thereafter, dinner ended. Yun Yu was the rst to rise and excuse himself. He said he still had business to attend to and oated o .
Liu Tongyi followed suit in excusing himself, and I went after him.
Outside, before we respectively boarded carriage and sedan, I said to Liu Tongyi, “Prince Dai spoke uncouthly today and put Supervisor Yun a little out of temper, and then even I made a fool of myself. It was a wretched performance.”
“Jests told at the table are forgotten as soon as they are heard,” said Liu Tongyi. “I no longer recall anything. If I was discourteous in any way, I hope Your Highness will not take it to heart.”
We exchanged another round of pleasantries. I watched him bend to board his sedan, then turned away and got into my carriage.
I returned to my manor, where the atmosphere was still somewhat dismal after what had transpired with the princess.
I called for a pitcher of wine and sat alone in the little garden outside my bedroom to drink.
Normally, I thought nothing of it, but tonight, sitting there under the lone moon, in the shade of the trees, a sudden sense of loneliness stole over me.
Everywhere I went, there were only false words, so false that I could no longer tell what was true.
Take Liu Tongyi; it was unrealistic to expect that he would ever say anything to me that was true and from the heart rather than mere politeness.
Earlier at Dai Manor, just before leaving, Yun Yu had said something to me, and it was only that I shouldn’t forget the appointment at Yuehua Pavilion.
At Yuehua Pavilion, Yun Tang and the others would discuss with me when to act.
The arrangements of many years, the plans laid in secret, were at last about to culminate in an uprising to seize the empire.
I recall that it was years ago on a similarly moonlit night that Yun Tang and Wang Qin said to me: An incompetent child clings to the throne, and an ignorant woman monopolizes power for her own ends. We, for the good of the nation and its people, have selected a wise leader to throw in our lot with. We wish Your Highness Prince Huai to take command.
Total hogwash.
Qizhe’s mettle as a ruler far outstripped the late emperor’s; he would certainly go down in history as a wise sovereign. The empress dowager was indeed a stupid woman, but fortunately her stupidity went to the core. Once Qizhe was a little older, it would be beyond her to exercise any control over a airs of state. It was only because I was a mediocre and useless cutsleeve, and Huai Manor was reputed to have that secret power that could overthrow the government, that Yun Tang and Wang Qin had temporarily
banded together and come to me. When they had used me as a ladder to get over the wall and disposed of me after seizing the throne, the two sides would face o , and the empire would go to the victor.
This was a fact that even an idiot could discern at a glance.
So I agreed.
I have been embroiled in this conspiracy with Yun Tang and Wang Qin ever since.
I remember my mother saying to me before she passed away, Your father made too great a contribution and left behind such an encumbrance that you, your children, and grandchildren will all be mistrusted. This is how so-called a airs of state operate. Only by washing your hands of it as soon as you can and retiring to a remote place can you ensure a good ending for yourself.
She was always so clear-sighted, yet I hadn’t done what she said.
Perhaps ultimately, in me owed some of the same hot blood that had lled my father’s veins. I was just a little unsatis ed, a little discontented.
I remember my father’s homecomings from the wars when I was still a child, the radiance in his face when he spoke of the battle eld. In his heart there was nothing but the nation, nothing but loyalty, nothing but the empire of the Jing clan.
But he left behind only suspicion, only a son now saddled with the reputation of a malignant tumor.
After half a lifetime of mediocrity, I just wanted to be able to do something remarkable. To make the so-called honest o cials, to make everyone in the world understand that Huai Manor wasn’t a den of malignant tumors, that the name “Prince Huai” was written among the ranks of loyal subjects and not on the list of traitors.
My father spent his life waging war and only wanted to bring stability to the Jing clan’s empire, so all its people could live in peace. At the very least, I could be like him. This once, I could protect the empire he had guarded all his life.
For no other reason than that I had called him “Father.”
And perhaps it was not in vain that Qizhe had called me “Imperial Uncle”
for so many years, regardless of whether he meant it sincerely or was only going through the motions out of obligation.
But as for what would happen to me after this, what my nal outcome would be, maybe I had not thought it through.
Maybe the best possible outcome for me was that Liu Tongyi might sincerely call me “Your Highness Prince Huai,” that Qizhe might sincerely call me “Imperial Uncle.”
Drinking alone beneath the moon, I suddenly thought that my path now was in fact even more foolish than my father’s had been. What the fuck did power over the empire have to do with me? Whether I existed or not, it would all be the same. Even if I weren’t there to spy on Yun Tang and Wang Qin, perhaps their uprising would still fail. At worst, perhaps neither of them would have his power ripped out at the roots, and an occasional small brouhaha might arise. But as long as the heads were gone, it would be hard for the hangers-on to get anywhere.
What need was there for me to be a spy?
If I didn’t do it, I would be the same old mediocre Prince Huai, viewed as a malignant tumor by the honest o cials, suspected all my life by my nephew the emperor and his mother.
So all the stirring motives I had thought of were false. Maybe my only goal was to win myself a good reputation.
I didn’t know yet whether that was possible.
This is how thinking works. The more you think, the deeper you go, and the more you go in circles. Finally, I drank myself into a stupor, discovered in a murky daze that my eyes had closed, then opened my eyes in the same murky daze to nd that I had been asleep in bed and it was already broad daylight. Chief Steward Cao stood at my bedside. “Your Highness, you’re awake at last. Last night I saw that you were inebriated and had fallen asleep in the garden, so I had someone assist me in getting you back to your bedroom.”
There was a dull, throbbing pain in my head. I wrestled my swollen eyelids open and asked, “What time is it?”
Chief Steward Cao said, “Nearly noon.”
I threw back the covers. Chief Steward Cao added, “Supervisor Yun is here. He is in the front hall.”
I knew very well that the reason for Yun Yu’s visit was to make sure I didn’t forget about the appointment at Yuehua Pavilion, and probably he would also have something to say concerning Liu Tongyi.
I got out of bed and said to Chief Steward Cao, “Instruct the kitchen to prepare the usual. Supervisor Yun might stay to eat.”
Chief Steward Cao bowed. “I have already told the kitchen to prepare.”
When I came to the front hall, Yun Yu was seated, quite at ease, sipping a cup of tea.
I smiled. “Supervisor Yun.”
Yun Yu stood and smiled as well. “Your Highness.”
I took my seat. “I rose late today. I did not know you were coming.”
“No matter,” said Yun Yu. “I didn’t wait long anyway. I’m only afraid I have disturbed Your Highness’s rest.” He looked around. “The decorations in Your Highness’s front hall are always changing. I see there’s been a change since the day before yesterday.”
“Oh?” I said. Though this was my own hall, perhaps I had been too busy over the last couple of days to note any alteration. I looked around, and it seemed the same as before. “Perhaps the servants adjusted the arrangements while cleaning. I hadn’t noticed.”
Yun Yu narrowed his eyes slightly. “The decorations seem to have been moved around. Has Prince Dai requested something of Your Highness again?”
With this hint, I remembered. “Prince Dai hasn’t had the time these past few days. Yesterday I presented a peach-stone carving to His Majesty.”
How fortunate that I hadn’t forgotten about this on my return last night and had immediately had the Banquet of the Eight Immortals peach stone wrapped up and delivered to the palace before retiring to my room to drink.
Yun Yu said, “I see.”
At this, I recalled that the carving had been a gift, I rather thought from Yun Yu; he’d said it was a trinket brought back from Jiangnan by a pupil of his father.
I rushed to apologize: “I presented it to His Majesty without a word to you—that was an oversight on my part. I hope you can excuse me.”
There was nothing unusual about Yun Yu’s expression. He smiled faintly and said, “It’s nothing, only a crude marketplace bauble. I am honored that Your Highness favored it by displaying it in this hall for many years, and that it has now been presented as a gift to His Majesty. Only… if it has pleased His Majesty, I will want a favor from Your Highness.”
I nodded. “Naturally, I owe you a great favor.”
Because we were in the front hall, unavoidably surrounded by eyes and ears, Yun Yu only made it clear that he might come to collect on the favor at any time, then went on to discuss the handicrafts of various places in Jiangnan, then its scenery and customs. We chatted awhile, until Chief Steward Cao came to report that lunch was ready.
Yun Yu stood. “Oh, then I won’t disturb Your Highness’s meal. I’ll excuse myself.”
Smiling, I said, “Why so polite today, Supervisor Yun? Anyone would think I usually hide in my room to eat in secret. Would you like me to write you out a formal invitation right now?”
I gestured, and Yun Yu proceeded with me to the parlor where lunch was to be served. At the table, we were seated, and the dishes were laid before us, and the wine cups were lled, and at last, without any hurry, he said, “I was afraid that because I joked with Your Highness in front of Chancellor Liu at Dai Manor last night, Your Highness would be resentful and have nothing for me to eat today.”
I picked up my chopsticks and said, “I have always been broad-minded, never vengeful. Besides, even if I were vengeful, I still wouldn’t dare not to invite you to eat with me.”
Yun Yu said, “I was judging a gentleman by my own mean standards.” He lowered his voice and added, “Two days hence, at Yuehua Pavilion, I have a great gift to give Your Highness Prince Huai by way of apology.”
As expected, it was all about Yuehua Pavilion.
I said, “Fine, I will be expecting it.”
A few cups of wine later, Yun Yu picked up the subject once more. He said to me, “Your Highness, do you suppose that Chancellor Liu understood
the true meaning behind my joke last night?”
I collected my thoughts. I wanted to suppose that Ransi had understood what Yun Yu had said yesterday, and therefore answered as he had; I wanted nothing better than to suppose that, but I didn’t quite dare.
Ransi, Ransi—after all, he was no one else; he was Liu Tongyi.
Yun Yu sipped his wine. “This is Chancellor Liu we are talking about, after all. He must have discerned the truth.” He raised his eyebrows. “His answer was just perfect. Isn’t Your Highness overcome with delight?”
I pretended not to understand, gave a casual laugh, and steered the subject away.
When the meal ended, I invited Yun Yu to have a seat in the rear courtyard.
No one was around now. We were in the gazebo above the pond, with a cool breeze blowing.
Yun Yu held back his sleeve and poured tea. I said, “I will not forget the appointment two days hence. Please set your mind at ease, Supervisor Yun.”
The fragrance of the tea mingled with the breeze and rippled through the gazebo, faint and subtle.
Yun Yu said, “I am a little preoccupied today and have been long-winded.
I’m afraid I have irritated Your Highness, but some words must be spoken directly at the outset. This great deed has been so many years in the making.
Does Your Highness think that we have truly managed to let nothing slip?”
“Whether we have or not,” I said, “I think it makes no great di erence. My nephew the emperor and the empress dowager would be constantly on guard looking for an opportune moment to take me down, regardless of whether I behaved myself.”
Yun Yu did not respond. I tapped my forehead with a fan and continued,
“Actually, Supervisor Yun, there is something I’ve been meaning to ask you.
It is a matter of course that I would do this, but why are you doing it?”
Yun Tang’s power and in uence were overwhelming, and Yun Yu, at his age, was only slightly surpassed in his position at court by Liu Tongyi. Even if I were to become emperor, father and son stood to gain hardly anything.
It wouldn’t have rung true for me not to voice this doubt.
Yun Yu paused, then said seriously, “Because I think that Your Highness Prince Huai is the true Son of Heaven.”
“You’re being facetious, Supervisor Yun,” I said. “I can’t even fall for Liu Tongyi without you turning it into an endless joke, and here you are suddenly so formal.”
Yun Yu’s expression altered again; something seemed to ash over his face and through his eyes, but his smile returned. “To be honest, it’s that… Your Highness has a choice to be law-abiding or not, while I was born Yun Tang’s son. Can the son of a malignant tumor be healthy esh?”
I was silent; I could not answer this. Yun Yu continued: “Therefore, I must persist in saying too much. Your Highness, I think that some things in our lives are xed, and all we can do is submit to fate. No good will come of wrestling with fate.”
Though Yun Yu acted like he was soothing my doubts, his tone was self-mocking in the extreme. Looking at him, for some reason, I felt a bit of pity.
In fact, Yun Yu was a little like me; both of us had been seen from birth as future termites in the pillars of the court regardless of the reality. My father and I were wrongly suspected, so I could raise a cry of injustice. But Yun Tang truly lived up to his reputation—or rather, lived down to it; my title of greatest tumor ought by rights to have gone to him.
Common superstition says that a person born into a wealthy household must have burned the best incense and accumulated merit in a past life.
To look at Yun Yu, this wasn’t entirely accurate; it really was hard to say what kind of fortune he had accumulated to be born Yun Tang’s son.
I stood and gazed into the distance outside the gazebo. I deepened my voice and smiled. “It is a little strange to hear you speak of fate. I have never bowed to it myself.”
I slowly curled my left hand into a st and pronounced the next words o andedly, but with force behind them. “I believe that to obtain something, I need only want it.”
Having said this, even I admired myself. For a dizzy instant, it seemed that I had truly extended my hand to grasp the throne.
Behind me, Yun Yu clapped twice. “My father and I, and Lord Wang, will only follow a prince with this boldness. Only this daring can truly command the empire.”
I turned and repaid Yun Yu with a faint smile. “And I require aides such as Grand Tutor Yun, Lord Wang, and you, Supervisor Yun. In fact, my recent attempts to become friendly with Liu Tongyi have been to learn of the true position of those close to my nephew the emperor.”
Yun Yu shook his head and said, “I am afraid it will be di cult for Your Highness to learn their true position from Liu Tongyi. I must continue to speak out of turn. That man is a di cult character. Why do you think…”
Yun Yu looked directly at me. “Your Highness, why do you think Liu Tongyi is still unmarried?”
My heart tightened again.
Yun Yu’s lips tipped up slightly at the corners. “The reason Liu Tongyi is unmarried is probably the same reason that I to this day remain unmarried,
and that Your Highness has no children.”
My heart sank.
Yun Yu spoke the truth.
The real reason I had no children wasn’t that I wasn’t interested in women, and the reason Yun Yu was unmarried wasn’t that he was a cutsleeve. It was just that, with a wife and children, one had ties and encumbrances; if one’s great undertaking failed, it would be throwing those lives away in vain.
As far as the long-standing conspiracy went, Qizhe and the empress dowager must have been aware, or if not aware, always planning to pluck out unseen dangers.
I had never wanted to think deeply about these things. Deep thought could only lead to unhappiness.
That Liu Tongyi was unmarried meant he was also engaged in preparations like these, so hardly anyone brought it up, and marriage proposals had been scarce; and Qizhe, and even the empress dowager, who loved best of all to arrange marriages, had pretended to be staying out of it.
Only when the great undertaking was behind him could he consider domestic matters.
The great undertaking in his case was to pluck out the hidden danger that threatened the throne.
As chancellor, there could be no doubt that in this great undertaking, Liu Tongyi had full authority to plan and to arrange.
In his plans, in his arrangements, the matter of greatest priority, almost beyond a doubt, was how to kill me.
Yun Yu came to my side. His hands were behind his back, his gaze meaningful. “It is fortunate that Your Highness only wishes to learn the
truth from Liu Tongyi. Supposing Your Highness had truly fallen in love with this man, given his disposition, it would lead to nothing but heartbreak.”
Liu Tongyi, Liu Tongyi—if I were truly to revolt, and failed, there would be no shame in dying at his hands.
If I won, given his temperament…
My heart, my lungs, my spleen all squeezed together and trembled. I thought no further.
Yun Yu calmly spoke the phrase I had never wanted to saddle myself with, never wished to think beyond: “Victory or death.”
I only heaved a silent sigh.
How fortunate.
How fortunate that I was only a spy.
The next day, I nally had a day to myself; no summons arrived from the palace, and no visitors came to call.
There’s a quirk people sometimes have. When one is busy, one can never seem to get enough sleep; when the time comes to get out of bed, even as the servants have gone to bring washing water, one wants to snatch those moments to fall back into bed and lounge a little longer. But when I nally had a day with nothing to do and no one to disturb my pleasant dreams, I lay in bed, tossing and turning, and before it was even noon, I couldn’t sleep anymore and got up on my own.
After I ate, I turned circles around the central hall on my own as an aid to digestion. I was a little lonely, so I changed into casual clothes and headed to a place where pleasure could be found.
Houses and alleys in the capital where people with my interests could go weren’t in short supply, but few places catered to my rather uncommon tastes. Others usually liked the younger ones with tender voices and youthfully rounded faces; the age I preferred was a little older, but usually few of those were virgins.
Actually, I don’t care about virginity, but those who weren’t virgins, unless they were of great renown, did not dare keep me company, perhaps because rumor made me out to be extremely hard to please. I was helpless before this; I don’t believe myself to be a fussy person. Perhaps I am a little picky about appearances. In the whole capital, only a very few can be the cream of the crop, so even in frequenting brothels, I was lonelier than others.
I came to Twilight House, where I played weiqi and drank some cups of tea with Chu Xun.
Chu Xun was a person I had gone to fairly often in the last year or two.
He was handsome, skilled at conversation, even-tempered, always capable of saying just the right thing at just the right time, and never saying what ought not to be said. Even at court, these accomplishments would have made him somebody.
While I already thought well of Chu Xun, today, probably because I was a little lonely, I found him a particularly rare marvel.
Holding Chu Xun in bed, I found him increasingly to my liking. I brushed his hair, still slightly damp with fresh sweat, o his forehead, and said, half-sincere and half-teasing, “Why don’t you come home with me?”
Chu Xun laughed. His voice was still a little languid. “I thought Your Highness never took anyone home.”
“That was before,” I said, “and it was never a rule.”
I sat halfway up and looked at him. “Come back with me.”
Chu Xun raised himself on one hand and picked up his inner robe to drape it over himself. “All right.”
Then I really did take Chu Xun with me. After so many years frequenting pleasure houses, this was my rst time bringing someone home. When I thought of this, I suddenly felt a tri e bitter.
It was afternoon still, with time to go till evening. I hadn’t wanted to make too much of a spectacle coming to Twilight House, so I had taken a small sedan. When I had Chu Xun with me on the way back, it felt a little cramped. Some crowding isn’t a bad thing; it has its appeal.
Chu Xun sat next to me. He had come with me right after nishing his bath. When the sedan shook slightly, his fresh aroma wafted my way.
With such a person at my side, to touch if I raised my hand, to embrace if I so wished, to answer when I spoke, I felt more present, no longer detached in the way I had felt from last night into this morning.
I took Chu Xun’s hand and was just about to do something else when the sedan shook and came to a stop.
I waited brie y, then said, “What’s wrong?”
An attendant keeping pace with the sedan responded, “I regret to inform Your Highness that the road ahead is blocked. I do not know why and have already sent someone to investigate.”
The person he had sent returned shortly. “Imperial Chancellor Liu’s o cial sedan is stopped ahead. It seems someone has lodged a complaint of injustice and has held up Chancellor Liu’s sedan, bringing the whole street to a standstill.”
I pushed aside the sedan’s curtain at once. “What a thing to happen. I will go take a look.”
This busy and prosperous street was quite a wide road for the capital. Many court o cials had to take it on their way to and from court, and when the emperor occasionally accompanied the empress dowager out of the palace to light incense and pray to the Buddha at a temple, they often passed this way as well, precisely because the road was spacious. There was more than enough room for the emperor and the empress dowager’s honor guards put together to spread without crowding.
But when I left the sedan, I saw up ahead an impenetrable sea of heads, young and old, male and female, all ordinary citizens. The whole street was hopelessly blocked, leaving no room for even a single droplet of water to squeeze by.
The crowd buzzed with commentary, which mingled with the orders from the imperial chancellor’s guards for the spectators to step back from the sedan. Rising above it all were heartrending cries, likely the voices of those demanding justice.
I moved toward the crowd. Some guards from my manor went on ahead, crying, “His Highness Prince Huai passes, everyone make way!”
The noise of the spectators quieted considerably and they parted to make way.
I continued forward and saw Liu Tongyi standing in front of his o cial sedan. In an open space directly in front of him knelt a few unkempt, ragged people of mixed gender, crying up to heaven and earth, bitterly proclaiming their grievance.
“…Chancellor, my whole family is ve souls, and we’ve all been dreadfully wronged… My old father remains in prison to this day, clinging to life by a thread. Please, Chancellor, take it upon yourself to investigate this injustice…
Quanzhou’s magistrate has no regard for human life. This transgresses against heaven’s law!”
Their leader crawled a few steps forward and raised a rolled-up object high above his head. “Chancellor, this is my complaint. Please take it and get justice for my family!”
His forehead was bleeding where he had struck it against the ground while genu ecting. Blood streamed down his lthy face, and the roll of white cloth in his raised hand was dotted with red; it must have been a declaration written in blood.
I could not help saying, “Every day, at three marks past the Hour of the Monkey, the sedan of Chamberlain Zhang Ping of the Court of Judicial Review passes through Xingzhao Street. Rather than bring your grievance here to Imperial Chancellor Liu, you would be better served by getting up and going to Xingzhao Street to stop Zhang Ping’s o cial sedan.”
The man raised his head, trembling. Liu Tongyi turned slightly and bowed. “Your Highness.”
“No need for such formality, Chancellor Liu,” I said hastily. “I was only passing by and came to have a look out of curiosity.”
I walked over and stood beside Liu Tongyi, who said to the man, “What His Highness says is the truth. Rather than present your suit to me, you would be better o going to the Court of Judicial Review. I now know the outlines of your complaint. Once the Court of Judicial Review has accepted the case, I will keep my eye on it and urge the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review to try it conscientiously.”
The man’s eyes instantly became more doleful, and he said sharply,
“Imperial Chancellor Liu, can you really stand by and do nothing in the face of such injustice? Are you planning to fob us o and watch as His Majesty’s
subjects, in this empire of law and order, are subject to the coercion of corrupt o cials? Will you allow lthy o cials to treat human lives like trash?!”
“It’s not fobbing you o to tell you to go to the Court of Judicial Review,”
I said. “You ought to know that the court must proceed according to rules and regulations. Imperial Chancellor Liu undertakes a portion of the nation’s rule for His Majesty. While the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review fall within his purview, he has only a supervisory role. He does not normally investigate cases himself. If Imperial Chancellor Liu were to accept your complaint now, it could only be conveyed to the Ministry of Justice tomorrow after court assembly, then transferred by the Chancellor’s O ce to the Court of Judicial Review for investigation. It would have to pass through the hands of numerous o cials on the way, and perhaps two or three commentaries would be appended to it, and several o cial seals a xed. At the earliest, your case would only be led and prepared for trial by the Court of Judicial Review the day after tomorrow, or even the day after that. You say your father is in prison now, hanging on by a thread. A single day’s delay poses a danger to him. Go now, before the Hour of the Monkey begins, and hurry to Xingzhao Street to stop Lord Zhang. He will accept your complaint, Imperial Chancellor Liu will say a word about this case to the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review, and by tomorrow afternoon at the latest, the Court of Judicial Review will begin investigating this injustice.”
The man looked blankly at me and Liu Tongyi. After a moment, he returned to kowtowing fervently. “Thank you for your advice, I will never forget this immense favor.”
He raised his head slightly, looking at me in gratitude, and said, “I heard Chancellor Liu call this honorable gentleman ‘Highness.’ May I ask which prince His Highness is?”
What was he doing lingering here to ask about my title instead of hurrying o right away to hail Zhang Ping’s sedan?
“This is His Highness Prince Huai,” said Liu Tongyi.
The man gave me another blank stare. His eyes ashed, and he kowtowed fervently again. “Thank you, Your Highness Prince Huai, thank you.”
The two people behind him also kowtowed.
But after kowtowing, he still didn’t go. He crawled another two paces forward and raised the bloody declaration. “I will go at once to Xingzhao Street then, but please take a look at my complaint, Chancellor. I beg of you to help me get justice!”
Liu Tongyi nodded and said, “Very well.” He stepped forward.
I suddenly felt suspicious. I had seen quite a few people lodge complaints of injustice. Reasonably speaking, the injustice in this case must be considerable; the people bringing the complaint were wailing quite mournfully. Despite that, they seemed a little too composed. Rather than rushing at once to Xingzhao Street, they were dawdling here, as if they weren’t worried about missing their chance to stop Zhang Ping.
Could they think that because Imperial Chancellor Liu and I already knew about this case, the verdict was sure to be reversed?
Liu Tongyi had already bent to take the bloody declaration, while the man still knelt with his head bowed.
“Imperial Chancellor Liu, I’ve always thought that you were an honest chancellor like Lord Liu in the past—a good o cial.”
The hand holding up the bloody declaration darted.
I sensed danger and threw myself forward without thinking. I grabbed hold of Liu Tongyi and cried, “Ransi, get back!”
In a ash, a cold gleam took aim at the left side of Liu Tongyi’s chest. I only had time to reach out and shield him. A chill instantly penetrated my clothing and punctured my right arm.
Immediate chaos erupted around us. I felt nothing. I had Liu Tongyi carefully shielded, but I did not know whether he had been injured. I asked over and over, “Ransi, are you hurt? Are you in pain?”
Liu Tongyi didn’t answer me. He put a hand on my right arm. “His Highness has taken an injury to his arm. Someone come and bandage it.
Quick, fetch a doctor!”
There was tumult all around. I kept hold of him and said, “Ransi, for pity’s sake, are you hurt?”
The parcel of blue in my arms stirred. With a soft sigh, he said, “Your Highness, I am unharmed.”
At Liu Tongyi’s movement, along with his answer, I slowly came to myself.
And coming to myself, I instantly noticed the impropriety of the situation.
Liu Tongyi and I were so close together. I had come very close to shield him, and he now had a hand on my right arm. It was as if the two of us were openly embracing in full public view.
When I became aware of this, I felt weak from lthy, giddy joy. Then I let go and stepped back.
The servants from my manor were uncommonly adaptable and circumspect. Only now did they come to support me from either side, and Liu Tongyi removed his hand from my right arm. I looked at him closely.
Though his expression was calm, there was something troubled in it.
Well, in the heat of the moment, I had inadvertently called him “Ransi” a number of times; I wondered how he felt about it.
The three who had been delivering their grievance were already bound and lay prone on the ground. My attendants had tied their arms behind their backs, though their leader thrashed and shouted, “Liu Tongyi, you collude with that treacherous Prince Huai! You are a disgrace to the name of Liu! You dishonor your family!”
Ridiculous! I eyed him and said, “I don’t take this road every day. I just happened to be passing by. Were you really able to foresee that and prepare a knife in advance to lie in wait?”
The assassin thrashed again but said nothing.
“There’s no need to go on pretending,” I said. “There will be people waiting in the courtroom of the Ministry of Justice to hear whose orders you were acting on and why you tried to assassinate Imperial Chancellor Liu.” I raised my left hand toward the guards. “Take them away.”
Supporting me, one of my circumspect servants said at once, “Your Highness is so wise. How could these nobodies make mischief in front of you?”
“How can I receive such attery in front of Chancellor Liu?” I said modestly, smiling. “It puts me to shame.”
Liu Tongyi sighed softly. “Your Highness should return home as soon as possible to have your wound treated. Do not linger here joking with me. It was my carelessness that caused this. I imperiled…”
I interrupted him: “Chancellor Liu, if you really want to thank me, don’t talk like that.”
I had never imagined that I would have a chance to hold Liu Tongyi in my arms; now that I had lived to see the day, I thought it would be worth
being stabbed another three or four times.
Liu Tongyi looked at me, and I looked back into his clear eyes. For a moment, there was an emotion in my heart that de ed description. I smiled and said, “But Chancellor Liu, I think you must have been a little muddled from shock. With the dagger still in my esh, you called for the wound to be bandaged. It can’t be bandaged yet, you know.”
A trace of a smile nally appeared on Liu Tongyi’s face. “That’s called losing your wits. I wasn’t just muddled, I was completely silly.”
Some of my servants had already gone ahead to call for an imperial physician, and the remaining ones supported me until I reached my sedan.
Liu Tongyi kept pace with me. At the sedan, I said, “You ought to go home and rest, Chancellor Liu. I am all right. The dagger is short and only went through esh. See, I can still move my forearm and hand. Once I am home, the doctor will pull it out, apply some salve, and bandage it. I gure it will be good as new within ten days. A mere esh wound.”
Liu Tongyi looked at my blood-soaked sleeve and frowned. “Now Your Highness is just being polite. No matter what, I must insist… That is, I would like to accompany Your Highness to Huai Manor. There can be no delay. Please get into the sedan now.”
I was just about to nod and agree when an attendant moved aside the sedan’s curtain, and Liu Tongyi’s gaze fell upon the sedan’s interior.
I stood there and watched as Liu Tongyi, his expression unperturbed, lowered his eyes.
“Chancellor Liu… I…”
Liu Tongyi lifted his sleeve. “Although, with Your Highness injured, it is inappropriate for an outsider to be present and get in the way. I will bid farewell as requested. Hurry home, Your Highness.”
All I could do was nod sti y. “Well, then I’ll be going. Go home and rest as well, Chancellor Liu.”
A cool breeze opened a gap in the sedan’s curtains. Through the gap, I watched Liu Tongyi’s o cial sedan disappear down another road.
This really was my rst time bringing someone home from a pleasure house. In the cool breeze, I was despondent.
Not long after my return to the manor, the imperial physician arrived.
And another person, a very problematic one, came with him.
I hadn’t expected him to come. What’s more, he arrived without fanfare. I had just caught my breath and was half-reclining on a couch in an interior parlor, sipping tea from a cup held by Chu Xun to wet my throat. As I su ered from the terrible pain in my arm, out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of the attendants at the door all falling to their knees, and a ash of bright yellow appeared beyond the threshold. I automatically gave a start and rolled o the couch. I tried to land in a kneeling posture and nearly knocked the teacup out of Chu Xun’s hand, straining my back in the process.
“Respectful greetings to Your Majesty.”
The bright yellow crossed the threshold. “Rise, Imperial Uncle. How can you kneel when you are so gravely injured?”
I was just about to kowtow in gratitude when a hand fell on my shoulder.
I had no choice but to get up. “This is too great an honor,” I said.
Qizhe looked at me with a deeply troubled gaze. His hand was still on my left shoulder. “Imperial Uncle, there is no need to be so formal with us.” His eyes ever so naturally wandered over to Chu Xun, who was still on the ground. “This is…”
While I considered what introduction would be appropriate, Chu Xun touched his head to the ground and said, “I am called Chu Xun. My humble greetings to Your Eternal Majesty.”
With an understanding gaze, Qizhe said, “Oh. You may stand as well.” He looked again at Chu Xun, who had risen. “Young Master Chu Xun of Twilight House. We have long heard your name spoken. It seems now that you are indeed an uncommon personage.”
Chu Xun bowed. “My thanks for Your Eternal Majesty’s praise.”
Qizhe smiled, but he looked at me. “All of our imperial uncle’s people are extraordinary.”
I had no choice but to take this. “Your Majesty is too complimentary.”
The dagger was stuck in my right arm, growing more painful by the moment. My nephew the emperor at last showed compassion for my in rmity; he drew his brows together and said to the people behind him,
“Where is Imperial Physician Xu? Why the delay? Come and attend to our imperial uncle’s wound!”
Nephew, the delay was your own doing; how could Imperial Physician Xu dare to come forward? How could you blame him?
Imperial Physician Xu gave a trembling answer and tottered forward with his medicine chest. My nephew the emperor at last removed his hand from my shoulder, and half a dozen of Imperial Physician Xu’s subordinate medical o cers crowded around. I was pressed into a chair beside a table and watched as vials, jars, knives, scissors, bandages, trays, and so on were arranged upon the table.
Imperial Physician Xu leaned down, narrowed his eyes, and studied my right arm for a long time. Looking gravely at the dagger sticking out of my
esh, he said, “The dagger in Your Highness Prince Huai’s arm must be pulled out.”
Obviously it had to be pulled. Any idiot would know that. Was I expected to leave it there to sprout leaves in the spring, bloom in the summer, and yield a few jin of little daggers in the fall?
And Imperial Physician Xu was the head of the Imperial Academy of Medicine. I became seriously concerned for my nephew the emperor’s precious health.
Imperial Physician Xu even sounded as though he was asking for instructions.
But it wasn’t me he was asking; here and now, it wasn’t up to me to say whether he should pull it out or not.
Qizhe sat in the seat of honor and proclaimed: “O cial Xu, go ahead and pull it out.”
Upon receiving this imperial edict, Imperial Physician Xu at last rolled up his sleeves, had two of his subordinates tie a white mask over his mouth, and stood ready to pull out the knife.
He raised a small pair of scissors glinting silver, then said to me, “Your Highness Prince Huai, I will now begin extracting the dagger.”
I was exasperated. I could only say, “Please go ahead.”
Imperial Physician Xu held the scissors in his hand but still did not use them. “Your Highness, there will be some pain while I remove the dagger.
You may feel better if you do something to distract yourself a little, for example talk to somebody.”
“Focus on pulling out the dagger, O cial Xu,” said Qizhe. “We will talk with our imperial uncle.”
Through the pain, I had to force a smile and say, “Thank you, Your Majesty.”
Imperial Physician Xu began cutting my sleeve away. I continued, “It truly distresses me that this tri ing a air today should have occupied Your Majesty’s attention.”
“Tri ing?” said Qizhe. “You were so gravely injured, Imperial Uncle. It is a major a air. It is only proper for us to come in person.”
The fabric around the dagger was stuck to the skin by dried blood. As it was peeled away, I felt a searing pain. I said, “Your Majesty overstates it. It is only a esh wound.”
The fabric must all have been removed. Imperial Physician Xu pressed on the skin around the dagger. With a smile hovering over his lips, Qizhe said,
“You are too modest, Imperial Uncle. You are a pillar of the court. After your carousing today, you left the pleasure house to carry your beauty home, and on your way, you boldly defended Imperial Chancellor Liu from a dagger. There is nobody to rival you in wisdom, courage, or appetite.”
The dagger in my esh shifted. I clenched my teeth and gasped. “It was coincidence. Your Majesty, I believe those assassins were sent by someone.
They must be investigated.”
Qizhe half closed his eyes. “Fine, we will leave it to the Court of Judicial Review to handle. We have always felt comfortable leaving cases with Zhang Ping.” He raised his eyes again to look at me. “O cial Liu hasn’t come to visit you yet, Imperial Uncle?”
“Chancellor Liu also received a shock,” I said atly. “I asked him to go home to rest.”
“Yes, it is gratifying to us that O cial Liu was not injured,” Qizhe said. He looked at me again. “We have heard that after being stabbed, heedless of
your own condition, you only held O cial Liu and asked, ‘Ransi, are you hurt?’ You are so intimate and friendly with this court’s o cials, Imperial Uncle. The whole court is one big happy family. This is immensely gratifying to us.”
I suppressed a shudder. The wound in my arm was suddenly vacant.
Imperial Physician Xu had nally pulled the dagger out.
Imperial Physician Xu and his subordinates clustered around my injured arm and made use of all the vials, jars, bandages, and bowls that they had brought. They applied pressure and stopped the bleeding, cleaned the wound, drizzled this and that powder and concoction, and nally wrapped it in bandages.
I let them ddle. I was reminded of the dish called Saiwai Jiangnan,
“fertile elds abroad.” The front leg of a sheep would be wrapped in lotus leaves, just like my arm now. When eaten, the lotus leaves were unwrapped, and it was sprinkled with spiced salt and dipped in a mixture of soy sauce and vinegar.
As Imperial Physician Xu bandaged, he said, “Your Highness Prince Huai’s diet should be light for the next few days. Avoid spicy or stimulating foods.”
I would bear that in mind.
Imperial Physician Xu delivered a clear explanation of all the vials and jars as he presented them to me, and they were taken away by Chief Steward Cao and others acting under his instructions. Slightly later, he prescribed a medicine to be taken orally. Chu Xun had stood by without a sound all along. While Chief Steward Cao was collecting the pile of vessels, Imperial Physician Xu handed over the prescription, and Chu Xun took it.
Imperial Physician Xu looked at him, looked at me, then said, “Please
maintain your energy in the near future, Your Highness Prince Huai, and eschew… strenuous activity.”
Smiling, I said, “I have always enjoyed idleness. I will be sure to abide by Imperial Physician Xu’s injunctions.”
My nephew the emperor smiled as well. “O cial Xu is too cautious. Our imperial uncle always knows his limits.”
Imperial Physician Xu’s beard quivered, and he cupped his hands in salute.
“I have overstepped. My apologies, Your Highness.”
“It’s nothing,” I said. “I will show my thanks in the future for importuning you this half-day.”
Imperial Physician Xu and his subordinates genu ected and took their leave. Chief Steward Cao and Chu Xun also withdrew with the prescription and the bottles. I said to Qizhe, “I am astonished that my tri ing esh wound resulted in an imperial visitation. Your Majesty’s benevolence is boundless. I am moved to tears of gratitude. But it grows late. The hour is advanced. Please hurry back to the palace, Your Majesty.”
Qizhe rose and eyed my bandaged arm. “We have given you many occasions to be distressed and moved to tears of gratitude these last few days, Imperial Uncle. Between us, as uncle and nephew, there is no need to hew so closely to the conventional formalities between ruler and subject.
Your rescuing Imperial Chancellor Liu today does you credit, Imperial Uncle, and we will remember it. But there are some cautions we must pass on to you.”
I bowed. Qizhe took two steps, and with a soft sigh quietly said, “Court o cials of the fth rank and above may not visit brothels and pleasure houses. We are aware that hardly anyone at court abides by these strictures,
but you occupy a special position, Imperial Uncle. You have all the o cials watching you from below. At any rate, you shouldn’t be too public about it.”
I had known that the issue of Chu Xun would cause trouble, and I immediately said, “I have spent years violating court discipline by wallowing in places of ill repute, tarnishing the court’s stainless reputation. This is an unpardonable o ense. I can only ask Your Majesty’s forgiveness. The reason I have continued to err while knowing I did wrong is that…” I laughed bitterly. “That I wanted, just for a moment, to have someone in my bed I can talk to. I am always idle and make no contributions to the court. It always causes me shame, and on top of that, my interests being what they are, it’s truly…”
Qizhe stood before me, his bright yellow hems not stirring a sliver.
A moment later, I heard him sigh again. “That is conduct be tting of you, Imperial Uncle. Even in frequenting a brothel, there is such loyalty and righteousness in your heart, such patriotism. After romancing, carousing, embracing a brothel boy, and bringing him home, still you have a bellyful of grievance and a heart full of loneliness. What are we to do?”
My legs bent at once. “I do not dare…”
But before I could kneel fully, Qizhe put a hand on my shoulder.
“Imperial Uncle, we were only joking.”
His brow was still furrowed, but a trace of a smile played over his lips. He withdrew his hand in no great hurry. “As you rescued Chancellor Liu today, your visit to the brothel was indeed patriotic.”
My expression slipped slightly from shame, and I simply bowed my head and made no response. Neither did Qizhe speak. After a consummate silence, I nally said, “Your Majesty, it really is late now. You ought to return to the palace.”
Qizhe made a noise of assent. I tried and tried to hold back, but in the end, I could not help adding, “There are also some things I must say to you, Your Majesty. Your Majesty occupies a preeminent position and ought to take tender care of your precious health. Handling a airs of state daily is a tax on your mind and your strength, and some extraneous and unimportant matters, for example my injuries or family tragedies, ought not to hold too much of your attention…”
Qizhe cut me o with a smile: “It would seem you do not like us meddling in your a airs, Imperial Uncle.”
I was confounded. So, you see, it is hard work being a treacherous minister, and even worse for a loyal minister; I might give a few words of earnest and conscientious counsel, yet have untold layers of meaning read into them, uncounted evil intentions ascribed to me.
“No such thought crossed my mind,” I had to say. “It was an honest remonstrance. Sel shly, I could ask for nothing better than to be the recipient of Your Majesty’s tender concern. But out of consideration for Your Majesty’s well-being, I must make so bold as to speak directly. When Your Majesty leaves the palace, you ought to take even greater care for your safety, as for example when proceeding to my residence with a mere smattering of guards. Supposing I really were a malicious usurper…”
Qizhe looked at me, his eyes and his expression both somewhat unreadable.
I looked directly at him with loyalty and righteousness. Shortly, Qizhe turned around and said indi erently, “Your labors are understood by us, Imperial Uncle. We will take care in the future.” He shot me another glance.
“That being the case, we will return to the palace. You will be at home
recuperating from your wound for some days and will have no need to go to the palace. In a few days, we will send someone to look in on you.”
I knelt in gratitude for this great kindness, and at last respectfully saw my nephew the emperor out.
Once His Majesty had left by the main gate, I once again felt the throbbing, burning pain from my wound, and I was somewhat exhausted. I returned to the parlor and rested on the couch. Chu Xun brought a cup of warm tea, and I pulled him down to sit next to me. Chu Xun said, “Your Highness has been injured and is greatly fatigued. Why don’t I go now, so as not to cause any inconvenience or disrupt Your Highness’s recovery?”
I took the teacup, drank, and said with a smile, “Even you won’t stay with me. Fine, have Chief Steward Cao arrange for a sedan to take you back, then.”
Chu Xun took the teacup from my hand. “When Your Highness puts it like that, how could I dare leave?”
Beside us, Chief Steward Cao said, “Then I will have a bedroom prepared for Young Master Chu.”
I answered, “No need.”
Chief Steward Cao said at once, “Understood.”
Chu Xun rose. “I’m sorry for troubling Chief Steward Cao.” His manner was humble and natural.
Chief Steward Cao looked up at him and said smilingly, “Not trouble at all.”
Chu Xun came back to sit beside me. I chatted with him awhile. He came from a family of o cials, and he had been around quite a bit and had many
experiences. He could speak on almost any subject. Each time I spoke with him, I felt easier.
Holding Chu Xun by the sleeve, I said, “What a pity I forgot that there is no zither in the manor. I’ll have to wait until tomorrow to have one brought here. Otherwise I would ask you to play for me tonight.”
Chu Xun said, “Does Your Highness want me to play out of concern that the pain from your wound will not let you sleep well?”
I made a face and said, “Do you truly think me so insensible to music?
When have I ever dared to treat your playing as a lullaby, Young Master Chu?”
Smiling, Chu Xun said, “I’m only afraid that if I did play a lullaby, Your Highness would only grow more energized by listening to it.”
“That’s all to the good,” I said seriously. “Imperial Physician Xu said just now that I will need my energy.”
Chu Xun tittered. I reached out to embrace him with my uninjured left arm.
Not long after, dinner was ready. In accordance with Imperial Physician Xu’s strictures, the fare was light and bland: a bowl of plain porridge and seven or eight small dishes.
When I had just lifted my bowl of porridge and Chu Xun was serving me some cold ddleheads in sauce, a servant said from the door, “Your Highness, Imperial Chancellor Liu and Supervisor Yun have arrived.”
My heart missed a beat. I hastily put down my bowl. “Invite them in.”
Soon after, a glimmer of pale green and a set of brocade robes appeared together at the door. I came forward. “Chancellor Liu, Supervisor Yun.”
With a bright smile, Yun Yu said, “Oh, we’ve come at a bad time. I smell food. Chancellor Liu, we’ve arrived during His Highness Prince Huai’s
“You’re just in time,” I said. “The food has just been served, and we’ve yet to start eating. If Chancellor Liu and Supervisor Yun do not object, come and eat with me. I am afraid there’s only plain porridge and pickled vegetables, nothing suitable for entertaining you gentlemen.”
It was Yun Yu who smiled and shook his head. “What a pity. I ate before coming, and I think Chancellor Liu has eaten as well. I heard that Your Highness was injured and came over to visit. I just happened to run into Chancellor Liu at the gate.”
I looked at Liu Tongyi. Perhaps it was the surpassing softness of the night, the dimness of the lamplight; I thought he was looking at me with an expression unlike his usual one. When he spoke, his voice permeated my heart like the gentle evening breeze. “How is your injury, Your Highness?”
In spite of myself, my voice also softened like the night. “It’s nothing serious. The imperial physician said it would heal in a few days. Chancellor Liu… please don’t worry.”
Yun Yu put in, “Since Your Highness is waiting to eat, I will take…”
“It would be inhospitable to send guests away who have come to visit the in rm,” I said. “Supervisor Yun and Chancellor Liu, please sit.”
I called for tea. Yun Yu sipped at his, looking around. “I hear that Your Highness brought back Chu Xun?”
It was Supervisor Yun’s whimsical a ectation to bring up a thing best left unmentioned at a crucial moment like this.
I gave a cough and said, “Yes.”
Liu Tongyi was drinking tea, staying out of it.
“Oh, then where is he?” said Yun Yu. “I lost to him last time we played weiqi, and it’s bothered me ever since. If Your Highness will lend me a quiet spot, I’ll play him again.” Then he put down his teacup and rose. “Your Highness and Chancellor Liu can chat.”
He followed Chief Steward Cao behind the screen to go see Chu Xun.
Only myself and Liu Tongyi remained, seated across from each other. I suddenly felt a little awkward.
Liu Tongyi coming to Huai Manor was a groundbreaking event, and I, like a boy of seventeen, had no idea what to do with myself.
It was Liu Tongyi who spoke rst, to express his gratitude, merely thanking me for saving him, with an added expression of regret that I had been injured.
“It’s nothing,” I said, “I just happened to be passing by. It was all coincidence. Have the assassins been taken to the Ministry of Justice’s prison already?”
Liu Tongyi nodded, and I continued, “I wonder who sent them. Have you o ended anyone recently, Chancellor Liu?”
“You could say that I haven’t, and you could say that I’ve o ended too many,” Liu Tongyi said. “I can’t think of anyone right now.”
This was the unvarnished truth. At court, there was never any knowing for sure whether one had o ended somebody, or who that o ended somebody was.
So I changed the subject. “At any rate, you ought to be more cautious for now, Chancellor Liu. How fortunate that those assassins were novices with no great accuracy or strength, and that they hadn’t poisoned the dagger, or else…”
Guilt once again crept into Liu Tongyi’s eyes, and I hastily said, “Of course, I don’t say this to indebt you, Chancellor Liu.”
I added, “Chancellor Liu… I… In the heat of the moment today, I inadvertently called your name, and somewhat overstepped the bounds of propriety. I hope you can make allowances…”
Liu Tongyi looked at me and did not respond.
I went on, “Because of my reputation… and certain predilections… today’s actions… might impact your unsullied reputation. I hope you will…”
Liu Tongyi was still looking at me. “I have heard that Your Highness has never cared about idle gossip. Why such reserve now? Your Highness rescued me this afternoon, and Your Highness has said that all your actions were taken inadvertently in the heat of the moment, blameless and proper. If Your Highness turns around and apologizes to me, I won’t know how to take it.”
Oh, Ransi, the point is, when I held you, there was nothing blameless about it. I did have something else in mind.
Liu Tongyi smiled faintly. “Besides, in o cial circles, who can truly be truly unstained? To cling to one’s reputation is to take on a meaningless burden, nothing more.”
“I have always thought so,” I said. “You speak to my heart there, Chancellor Liu. But I never thought you would say such a thing to me.”
Those clear eyes regarded me again. I was all but struck motionless. I said,
“I thought that you would have in mind a airs of state, a airs of the people.
That if you even spoke to a person like me, it would be in an attempt to instill higher values…”
Liu Tongyi smiled again. “Your Highness always leaves me speechless.”
I was taken aback, not knowing what he meant, so I said, smiling, “Oh, yes, this is your rst time at Huai Manor. While it is late, if you do not object, I can take you to have a look around. Huai Manor, of course, cannot equal your residence for tranquility, but the back garden is tolerable enough and quite serene at night…”
But Liu Tongyi rose. “It is getting late. I will not bother you any further. If Your Highness thinks it convenient, I can come by to visit regularly for a few days, and next time I will ask Your Highness to acquaint me with the manor’s gardens.”
I rose as well; his “come by to visit regularly for a few days” had brought a warm glow to my heart. I said, “Then I will see you o .”
When I had seen him to the corridor, Liu Tongyi said, “Your Highness, please return to your meal. I have delayed you long enough. Your food will grow cold.”
“Cold food can be heated,” I said. “I will take you a little further.”
Thinking this was a little forthright, I added, “After all… this is your rst time here.”
Liu Tongyi turned in the dim night. “Your Highness, this is not my rst visit.”
I was again taken aback. Liu Tongyi seemed to smile again. “For your late mother’s birthday celebration, I came with my mother to congratulate her.
We only sat awhile, then departed. We did not stay for the banquet. Your Highness was busy then and perhaps did not notice.”
The moonlight was like water, and his eyes were very bright.
I could not help saying with a sigh, “What a pity.”
Liu Tongyi’s smile deepened. “It is a pity. I hadn’t been able to nd a full edition of The Divine White Jade Sword, and I’d meant to ask Your Highness
The moon of the past, the stars of the past, the pond of the past, the osmanthus owers of the past—when he spoke, they took the place of the present scene and surroundings.
But I did not know whether the person standing before me was still that youth.
When Liu Tongyi was gone, I returned to the dining hall. For some reason, everything in the here and now felt a little false.
Too good, too coincidental, too convenient. None of it seemed real.
It was only when I was held up outside the dining hall by a certain person and heard him say certain words that I felt a shock of reality.
With no one around, Yun Yu gently tugged on my sleeve. He laughed softly and just as softly said, “Was Your Highness pleased with my gift?”
The suspicion caught in my mind was at last substantiated.
I might have known.
I could only sigh. In a voice even lower than his, I asked, “Supervisor Yun, is it your idea of a gift to get me stabbed?”
The moment was unsuitable, so I said only this and left it there.
Though from Yun Yu’s manner, it was evident he felt no remorse over getting me stabbed.
I deliberately announced before the crowd of people in the hall, “I have been slightly injured through no doing of my own. Earlier, His Majesty graced me with his presence, and I was subject to an imperial scolding.
Therefore, I’m afraid I am unable to honor Supervisor Yun’s invitation.”
“I see,” said Yun Yu. “I regret it profoundly. Oh, yes, my father meant to come ask after Your Highness’s health as well but was worried Your Highness would nd it inconvenient today, so sent me on ahead. Will tomorrow or the day after do?”
“Any time will do,” I said. “This tri ing little injury doesn’t merit Grand Tutor Yun’s attention.”
“How can an injury to Your Highness be insigni cant?” Yun Yu said with unassailable courtesy. “Lord Wang and some other notables are sure to want to come ask after Your Highness’s health as well, and I expect they will not accompany my father. For the next few days, Your Highness will have no shortage of visitors. Please remember to rest and not overtax your energy on this account.”
I inclined my head slightly.
Qizhe’s mention earlier today of places of ill repute had not left my mind; perhaps he had only meant by it what was clear on the surface, but I could not help but try to interpret it further. Perhaps he was already aware that I
was plotting with Yun Tang and Wang Qin. I didn’t want complications to arise before I had drawn out all the forces of the Yun and Wang clans. So my plan had simply been to change the location of the meeting from Yuehua Pavilion to Huai Manor.
But Yun Yu had refused and made it plain that his father would not come to Huai Manor with Wang Qin. The Yun and Wang families were just as cautious as myself, only our caution was concerned with di erent things.
Yun Tang and Wang Qin must still have their suspicions about me. They felt safer meeting at Yuehua Pavilion, a location they had arranged, than at Huai Manor.
Here was another instance of Yun Tang and Wang Qin treating me like an idiot; everything had to be done in places they held tight in their grasp.
They did not even dare to come to Huai Manor to plot. Supposing I actually wished to revolt, wouldn’t I have cause to doubt their good faith?
Yun Yu looked away, and, shaking his head, said, “What a pity. When we met, I had meant to…” Halfway through, he cut himself o and lifted his sleeves to bid farewell.
I said, smiling, “Cutting yourself o like that and leaving, Supervisor Yun, is really getting your hooks into my mind. Have you some rare and exquisite individual at the ready?”
“Your Highness, how can you say such a thing with Chu Xun standing next to you?” Yun Yu said seriously.
Chu Xun ought to know that Yun Yu was only teasing; he stood next to me, smiling.
I took Chu Xun by the hand. “A-Mi is not the jealous sort.”
Yun Yu raised his eyebrows. “Your Highness leaves me paralyzed with envy. I comprehend. I am in danger of overstaying my welcome if I do not
leave now. I bid you farewell.”
“Be well, Supervisor Yun,” I said. “After what you’ve said, my interest in this outing can hardly be contained. As long as I am able to rouse myself, I will make it.”
I had no further need to quibble overmuch on these issues with Yun Tang and Wang Qin, but Yun Yu’s frame of mind was always cautious and unpredictable; perhaps he was deliberately testing me.
One way or another, I would go along with this for the moment, pending later circumstances.
Yun Yu said only one thing more: “As Your Highness pleases.” Then he turned and left. I watched his gure recede into the dimness of the corridor and lifted a hand to rub my forehead.
The injury to my arm was secondary; it was handling these back-and-forths that had truly drained my energy today.
That night, I shared a bed with Chu Xun.
As I sat up in bed, I felt quite emotional. After many years of sleeping in this bed, this was the rst time I had someone to share it with; what a pity that I’d had to purchase his company.
I did not know whether I would ever live to see the day when someone truly chose to sleep beside me, to share my pillow and my dreams.
In the lamplight, for a dizzy moment, looking at Chu Xun from behind in his sleeping robe, I took him for Liu Tongyi and let my mind wander.
When Chu Xun turned around, came to the bed, and lifted the covers, I came to myself with a start.
How deplorable that whenever I thought of Liu Tongyi, I became as eager as in my libidinous teens and early twenties. I tried to think of something
Perhaps even now Liu Tongyi was thinking of how to root me out along with all my power, treacherous prince that I was.
If he, like Chu Xun, could spend a day by my side, whether he was sincere or not, even if it meant my instant death, I would be willing.
Chu Xun said softly in my ear, “Your Highness, should I put out the candle?”
I rose and extinguished it myself, then lay down under the covers.
I quietly asked Chu Xun, “Are you comfortable sleeping here, away from your own bed?”
Chu Xun said softly, “Your Highness, I can sleep anywhere. I don’t mind.”
I squeezed his hand under the covers. “You don’t have to be so formal in bed. Call me Chengjun?”
Chu Xun was silent a moment, then quietly responded, “I wouldn’t dare.”
I was ooded with con icting emotions. He was telling the truth.
I didn’t ask anything else of him, only said, “Let’s go to sleep.”
Chu Xun made a noise of assent. He had also been telling the truth about being able to sleep anywhere. After two marks, his breathing evened out as though he were sound asleep.
He didn’t move much in his sleep, nor did he hog the bed. There was stillness beside me.
Chu Xun was the son of a former o cial. His father had been corrupt and responsible for a number of unjust deaths. One day the truth was at last exposed, and he was summarily executed. Chu Xun had still been a child and, instead of being tattooed and sent to the frontier, was reduced to the station of slave. His older sister, Chu Luo, was reduced to a prostitute.
However, she was beautiful and talented. She became one of the capital’s famous courtesans and transferred to the well-known Daylight House. Chu Xun had been a laborer at the examination center, working bitterly hard, washing the oors and cleaning the latrines, even getting beaten black and blue for listening in on lectures and sneaking books to read. So Chu Luo paid o a patron and the madam so they would help her get Chu Xun into Daylight House as a musician. He was quick-witted and could pick up a seasonal tune after hearing it once, and could even compose a song or two of his own. Gradually his reputation grew. All the prostitutes in the capital’s brothels could be proud to sing a song Chu Xun had written for them, and many fresh faces came by to listen to his songs.
The rst time I went, I was dragged along by Qili, Qizheng, and some other nephews. They were very mysterious about it and insisted on pretending to be commoners when we went. When the sedan reached the door, I looked up and saw the name of Daylight House, and said at once,
“Your imperial uncle has no business in this place. You two go o and enjoy yourselves while I go over to Twilight House next door. When you’re through, send someone next door to notify me.”
Daylight House and Twilight House were the same business, only one o ered girls, and the other boys.
Qili said, “Do you think your nephews would invite you without consulting your preferences, Imperial Uncle? We’ve come to Daylight House today expressly so you can listen to the zither. The musician is the younger brother of the greatest beauty in the capital. Though in your eyes, Imperial Uncle, perhaps he is the capital’s greatest beauty.”
My interest was piqued. When we entered Daylight House and saw Chu Xun, I did think he was quite handsome. His age and appearance both suited
my tastes perfectly. He was not yet as skilled in dealing with people then as now; with his smattering of fame, he was a little proud. He wouldn’t even see an ordinary guest. Though Qili, Qizheng, and the others had dressed up in commoner’s clothes, it was clear at a glance to the discerning eye that their backgrounds were out of the ordinary; they couldn’t even fool a slave.
On the strength of my nephews’ grandiosity, we entered the best private room together. Tea was brought and poured by remarkably deferential attendants who stooped and bowed. Qili and the others noticed that something wasn’t right, but they lacked self-awareness. They even complained to me: “Maybe you come by too often on your way to Twilight House. They recognize you.” They were so green I couldn’t be bothered to enlighten them.
Chu Xun delayed his arrival until we had nished drinking a cup of tea.
He brought his zither and played a rather rare ed piece, giving the room a feeling of remoteness. Chu Luo herself kept us company, coming over to pour tea. Chu Xun played well, but this re ned sort of music, even played by the best of the best musicians, just wasn’t suitable for listening to in a brothel. I felt dull and unsatis ed, and began to drowse, only holding on to my last shred of wakefulness by admiring his face. My nephews could look to Chu Luo to keep their attention. When Chu Xun nished the song, he prepared to launch into the next one with a lofty look. I raised a hand to stop him and asked if we could hear a lighter tune instead.
Chu Xun gave me a look of disdain, convinced that I lacked the taste to appreciate sophisticated music. Chu Luo hastily smoothed it over, telling Chu Xun to play a popular tune, while she sang and danced in accompaniment for part of it. Finally the room livened up.
“That was a nice song. Did you write it?” I asked Chu Xun.
“Yes,” said Chu Xun. “It is merely a vulgar melody.” He seemed quite dissatis ed with his own composition, as if he thought a popular song could not appropriately display his talent and re nement.
I could not stand to see such a beautiful youth progress further and further along the path of no return to cynicism, so I said, “The vulgarity or elegance of a melody is only a matter of opinion. As long as many people enjoy listening to it, music is good. So-called vulgar music is actually easier and more natural. Why exert yourself in deliberate pursuit of elegance? Take many of the verses in The Classic of Poetry, for example: in their day they might have been called the height of vulgarity, but to posterity, they are the height of elegance.”
I told him that actually these ditties were more suitable for him; he played them much better than the elegant songs.
Chu Xun bowed his head and said he understood, but the light in his eyes and the expression on his face were in direct opposition to his words. It appeared that he took immense exception to my comments.
Chu Luo continued her solicitous attentions toward my nephews. Qili had given her instructions beforehand, so she didn’t come bother me. Chu Luo and Chu Xun must have both guessed the reason behind this, and perhaps my admiration for Chu Xun’s appearance was a tri e naked: under my notice, Chu Xun’s expression became increasingly sti and uncomfortable, and Chu Luo snuck occasional glances at me and her little brother with concern in her eyes.
While Chu Luo and Chu Xun were performing together on zither and ute, Qizheng asked me in a whisper, “What do you think of the musician, Uncle?”
“Pretty good, but he puts on airs,” I said.
Qizheng said, smiling, “Many people think that it’s the airs that make him interesting.”
Chu Xun’s so-called fame must have rested half on his musical talent and half on his appearance. Many of the people who came to hear him play must have shared my interests.
“I think he would be better with less pretension,” I said. “And I don’t suppose he’ll keep it up for long.”
Though our discussion was held in hushed tones, Chu Luo and Chu Xun must still have caught the gist. When the song ended, Chu Xun, holding his zither, excused himself with no expression on his face, and Chu Luo asked that her little brother be dismissed.
Qili, holding his wine cup, said, “It’s for my uncle to say whether he can leave. The rest of us have no say in it.” With a smile, he said to me, “Uncle, can he leave?”
Chu Xun’s expression sti ened further. Chu Luo had begun to tremble.
Did I really look like a ru an who would force myself on a humble man?
Even after I nodded and waved my hand to send Chu Xun away, his expression remained sti , and Chu Luo continued to tremble slightly.
Not long after these events, I forgot all about them until some months later, when Qili said to me, Do you still remember that zither player Chu Xun from Daylight House? and I recalled him. Qili said, You really do have an eye for people, Imperial Uncle. The young musician hasn’t been able to keep up his airs. He has gone to Twilight House and will be receiving clients tonight.
As a musician, Chu Xun had attracted quite a number of people who shared my interests. Among them one or two could no longer hold back.
Chu Luo was getting older, already into her twenties, no longer a slim and elegant girl in her teens. Her position as lead courtesan was slipping away as
her reliable patrons diminished daily. She already had di culty protecting herself, and certainly she could no longer protect him. Then she contracted a grave illness, and Chu Xun went straight to Twilight House.
But there was something lamentable about this reversal. The youth Chu Xun, though lacking in social graces, had an appearance and clarity of spirit that I liked. When I heard that he had really entered Twilight House and would be receiving clients that night, and Qili asked whether I was interested, I went.
On the rst night a prostitute receives clients, as a rule, the rst encounter will be publicly auctioned o . I sat in a small room on the second oor, watching the commotion downstairs. Chu Xun was eighteen or nineteen, a little old to be joining a brothel, but judging from this spectacle, for a year or two at least, he would certainly be at the peak of popularity.
As I was spectating, before I could decide whether to bid, a noise came from the little door at the back of the room through which tea was brought in, and a person came around from behind the screen blocking the door. He fell to his knees: it was Chu Xun.
He prostrated himself on the ground. “I beg Your Highness to be merciful and bid on me. I will do my utmost to serve Your Highness.”
In the months since I had seen him, he had progressed greatly. He had gured out how to use connections, and had come to entreat me.
Chu Xun must have been schooled by recent experiences. He had probably o ended some thorny individual and been forced to enter Twilight House; now he was forced to come to me to avoid that person.
“Why have you come to me?” I asked. “And who are you trying to avoid?”
Chu Xun hung his head and spat out the words: “Lord He.”
No wonder he had come to me. His Lord He must have been He Yue, an older cousin of the empress dowager in his sixties who styled himself the Haitang Hermit. This self-proclaimed romantic of an old haitang tree was in fact very… romantic.
My feelings about this were a touch complicated.
Chu Xun had come to me because he considered me some improvement on He Yue.
But to be some improvement on He Yue was not cause to celebrate.
Yet my heart softened, and I agreed. Beside me, Qili sighed and said,
“Imperial Uncle, you really are moved by the plight of beauty.”
When I placed a bid, naturally no one dared to ght me for it. So I became Chu Xun’s rst client, which came with nearly enough ostentation to equal the pomp of the bridal chamber.
I had thought that Chu Xun, working in a brothel with his dash of scholarly temperament, would surely put up an insu erable act of being under compulsion at rst, so I deliberately ordered wine for the room to liven things up.
Instead, contrary to expectations, Chu Xun held back his sleeve and poured wine for me. He urged me to drink, his manner natural and familiar, his voice easy. It was a great surprise to me.
“You’re an entirely di erent person from who you were some months ago,” I said.
Chu Xun threw back his head and downed the wine in his cup in one gulp. Smiling, he said, “Your Highness gave me a hint then, but I was frivolous and did not know myself. Now I have thoroughly grasped the meaning of self-awareness. When I think of myself before, it makes me want
to laugh.” Then he poured himself another cup and lifted it. “Thank you for your magnanimity that day, Your Highness.”
When we went to bed, Chu Xun was obliging and agreeable. While admittedly a touch inept, there was no bashfulness or posturing. I enjoyed myself immensely. The night was worth the cost, surpassing my expectations.
Though that rst night had been a favor, Chu Xun later improved, and I gradually came to see him more and more often. Now, the Young Master Chu Xun sleeping beside me was a polished piece of jade, smooth and supple, a di erent person altogether from the lofty young musician.
You could say that need had brought Chu Xun and me together. Chu Xun needed a major patron at Twilight House, and I, in my loneliness, wanted to have someone understanding to go to. Only, now that Yun Tang and Wang Qin’s rebellion was on the cusp of the crucial moment, it was yet unsettled whether I would succeed in my capacity as spy. Yun Yu regularly went out on the town with me, and he was well acquainted with Chu Xun and knew his situation like the back of his hand. Chu Xun was innocent; supposing he was dragged into this?
Moved by nothing more than eeting sentimentality, I had brought Chu Xun home. Thinking about it now, it really had been inappropriate. But sending him back now wouldn’t be especially appropriate either. When the Yuehua Pavilion a air was over, I would rethink the matter.
As for that appointment at Yuehua Pavilion, I did end up going.
Though my imperial nephew had ordered me not to visit pleasure houses in full public view, Yuehua Pavilion was not that kind of place.
Yuehua Pavilion was a restaurant, the most famous in the capital. Its food wasn’t the best; often a large plate containing only a heap of shredded greens garnished with two or three decoratively carved pieces of gourd was brought to the table under an elegant name representing itself as a dish. But the plate that this dish was served on was unmistakably the capital’s most modish, and most expensive.
And Yuehua Pavilion was di erent from an ordinary restaurant. It did not do its business right out on the street. In the most central location of the capital’s most ourishing pleasure street, it had encircled a patch of land with a compound. Surrounded by high walls ornamented by a big red gate, it had the look of a private mansion. The inside was also laid out like an ordinary mansion, with all the requisite inner and outer courtyards, gazebos, rockeries, ponds, trellises, and so on. The main hall was where guests were received. There were only private tables; ordinary customers were not welcome. Each private area stood apart, and each one was di erent; the arrangements inside them suited the scenery of the seasons: spring and summer, autumn and winter. There were curtains of willow branches trailing in spring and bamboo mats covering the oor in summer; in autumn, the fruits of the harvest were on display, and in winter the scene was of fur mattresses and narcissus and freshly picked wintersweet, along with a clay stove that warmed good Huadiao wine.
Moreover, the treatment guests received at Yuehua Pavilion was di erent from a regular restaurant. Clean, comfortable rooms were provided for bathing; if you enjoyed your meal too much and didn’t want to leave, quite presentable couches were supplied for rest; if in the course of eating, bathing, and sleeping, you felt lonely, gentle and lovely ladies or handsome and exquisite youths were always on hand to keep you company…
My rst time at Yuehua Pavilion, I had been brought by Yun Yu, and he had been very moved, saying with a sigh that in this place I would experience what it felt like to leave the profane world and step into the vastness of the universe.
To tell the truth, I did not feel that. Simply put, Yuehua Pavilion was a place that traded on elegance encumbered by a restaurant and a pleasure house. It was restrained, roundabout; I liked to be direct about both drinking and whoring, so it didn’t suit me.
But I still nodded and praised its fashionableness.