A Single Tie Of Long Hair Seals A Lifelong Commitment - Chapter 23

The weather was heavy and dull, and the eaves of the grey brick-and-tile walls seemed lower than usual. Beneath the walls, there was a clash of swords and blades.

The low pressure made the rise and fall of one’s chest more pronounced.

Although Yan Baizhang was lame, Chen Yuanqing had not nursed his body back to its former strength after his serious injury and was a little lacking in stamina. After a round of sparring, during which countless flowers and leaves were cut down, Yan Baizhang had not fallen significantly into a disadvantage.

Servants brought hot water, and the two men dipped their towels to wipe the sweat from their foreheads and necks.

Yan Baizhang said, “Marquis, you look troubled. Has His Majesty mentioned Liangyu’s marriage again?”

Chen Yuanqing sighed heavily, his face cloudier than before, and slowly said, “The Chen family has declined to this point. Any glory or honor ends with these three siblings. There is no one left in the clan. Thinking back to Imperial Concubine Gui…”

Yan Baizhang immediately corrected him: “Marquis, it is Empress Huixian.”

Chen Yuanqing put his hands on his hips and let out a short sigh: “I’m getting old and confused. Even Empress Huixian, who shared the purest and most sincere affection with His Majesty in their youth, ended up in such a state. Liangyu and the Crown Prince don’t see eye to eye, and the Marquis’s Residence is somewhat implicated in the passing of the former Crown Princess. If the Crown Prince harbors resentment because of this, how could she possibly have a good life if she marries into the Eastern Palace? When the day comes that I kick the bucket, won’t she be left to be abused by others?”

Yan Baizhang said, “The only daughter of a Marquis, with no clan members, eliminates the worry of in-laws interfering in state affairs in the future. Liangyu is of pure character, possesses real talent, has experienced the chaos of war, and has witnessed the suffering of the common people—she is the most suitable candidate for the Crown Princess. Furthermore, by securing Liangyu, the Northern Territory will willingly follow the orders of the Eastern Palace. With the Crown Prince’s position stabilized and the foundation of the state unshaken, the nation will be secure.” He listed all the benefits. “It’s just that Liangyu… is outwardly glamorous, but all her talents are confined. You and I painstakingly nurtured Liangyu to become accomplished, not to send her to be a clay statue enshrined in the imperial court.”

Chen Yuanqing closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose, clearly having a headache.

“Between Prince Shen and the Crown Prince, who does the Marquis place more hope in?” Yan Baizhang asked.

The word ‘hope’ clearly wasn’t about selecting a son-in-law but was a question concerning state politics, implying: who do you think is more likely to succeed to the throne?

“Currently, Prince Shen appears to have fierce momentum, but his foundation is still unstable. Since the Crown Prince began supervising the state and administering government, he has made no mistakes and his achievements are great. Regardless of how deep the Eastern Palace’s foundation is, judging purely by the individual, if one were to say who is more competent to be the future ruler, it would still be the Crown Prince.”

No matter how one looked at it, the Crown Prince would be an excellent emperor. Chen Yuanqing and Yan Baizhang knew this in their hearts, as did the court officials, and Chen Liangyu herself.

Xie Yu would be a good emperor.

However, the criteria for a good emperor contradicted what she wished to accomplish. She had witnessed the Crown Prince’s methods and spirit in restoring order and balancing the court officials, and she clearly understood that the Crown Prince, upon succession, would take balance as the cornerstone of governance and would most fear a “variable” that disrupts this balance. Everything she planned to do, whether it was promoting female education or reforming military administration, were things Xie Yu could not possibly support.

Yan Baizhang then said, “Currently, Prince Shen and the Eastern Palace are in contention. Although court officials are prohibited from holding selection of concubines, marriages, or having weddings during the grand mourning period for Empress Huixian, Liangyu’s marriage can be temporarily shelved. But Liangyu will inevitably be caught in the middle. We must find an excuse to send her away for a year or a year and a half to avoid the situation.”

The passing of an emperor or empress is a national mourning period. During this time, families with noble titles or official ranks were prohibited from taking imperial exams or holding weddings for three years. Empress Huixian was conferred the title of Empress after her death as Imperial Concubine Gui. Emperor Xuanyuan insisted that Empress Huixian’s funeral rites be treated with the same importance as an Empress’s, without the slightest deviation. After many memorials to the throne, considering various protocols and ancient laws, the officials of the Ministry of Rites finally persuaded Emperor Xuanyuan to agree to halve the national mourning period for Empress Huixian, reducing it from the original three years to eighteen months.

It was not difficult for Yan Baizhang to find an “excuse”; in fact, it presented itself without him needing to think.

Chen Liangyu rushed in anxiously, “Father, you must go to the palace. Today, I need you to put in a good word with His Majesty.”

Seeing Yan Baizhang standing nearby, she paid her respects as a student to a teacher: “Uncle Yan.”

Yan Baizhang nodded, “What is the matter that has you so frantic?”

“Amidst the relocation of wealthy merchants and magnates, bandits in the Xiling area have robbed a considerable amount of property and taken hostages. The court is currently looking for a general to lead an expedition to completely wipe out the bandits in that region.”

Those who can amass vast fortunes are either local overlords, have backing in the court, or are even connected to the imperial family.

The bandit problem in Xiling has always been a headache for the court. The mountain range extends for hundreds of miles, and when the bandits rob homes and take people, they can disappear without a trace into any of the mountain peaks. The court has sent troops to suppress them multiple times, destroying many strongholds, but the bandits seem inexhaustible, like weeds growing back with the spring wind.

This time, many relatives of court officials were affected, which is why it has finally attracted serious attention.

“I’ll go and completely clear out those bandit nests in the mountains. I can’t keep holding an empty post, spending every day either drilling the garrison or staying at home. My ambitions are unfulfilled, and my talents are going to waste…”

She was interrupted before she could finish her plea.

“Alright, alright. I’ll go to the palace later and ask for the assignment for you.” Chen Yuanqing relaxed a bit, then changed into a more formal robe and went to the palace with Chen Liangyu.

When she emerged from the Chongzheng Hall, Chen Liangyu held an imperial decree, ordering her to mobilize five thousand troops to go and suppress the bandits.

“Commander Chen.”

Chen Liangyu responded and turned her head. It was Eunuch Wei.

“The Princess asks you to come over.”

“Is something wrong with the Princess?” she asked.

Today was not a festival, nor were palace banquets allowed to invite noblewomen into the palace for celebration during the national mourning period. Although she held no great actual power, she was a military commander. It would be taboo for her to visit an imperial family member without a reasonable cause.

“Please follow me,” Eunuch Wei said, bowing slightly and extending his arm to lead the way toward the imperial harem.

Chen Liangyu had no choice but to follow.

Aside from the Three Great Halls and the palaces where the imperial consorts resided, several palace chambers were often left deserted in remote, unfrequented areas. They were not clustered together but were scattered sparsely in inconspicuous corners of the imperial city.

These abandoned chambers did not have proper name plaques. As long as they didn’t collapse, no one would think of maintaining or repairing them. When referring to these places, palace servants would usually use their orientation as a reference. For instance, those in the south would be called “South Palace,” and those in the east, “East Garden,” and so on.

Sometimes, these useless places could be put to use: they were used to house consorts who had fallen out of favor with the emperor, or palace servants who had served the Emperor without a title and did not wish to leave the palace after the Emperor’s death.

Abandoned chambers that housed people were collectively known by one name: the Cold Palace.

Xie Wenjun stood at the corner formed by two palace walls, directly facing a dilapidated wooden door.

Yuan Rong and Dai Qing were still attending her, one on each side.

The wooden door was mottled and had several spots where it had rotted away. Through the holes, one could see the inside.

Inside, someone was also looking out the door, meeting her gaze with a cold stare.

That was the former Consort De.

Now, she should be called the Deposed Concubine Yao.

She no longer possessed her former radiance. Her black hair, streaked with gray, was disheveled, not tied up, and there were pitted scars on her forehead.

“Bastard!”

Her sunken eye sockets made her eyeballs protrude, and her eyes were dark with bruise-like circles. She stared fixedly at Xie Wenjun like a ghost or a demon, cursing her with the most malicious language, as always.

“Be quiet. I’m thinking,” Xie Wenjun said. “I’m thinking about whether to kill you or not.”

Yuan Rong stood beside Xie Wenjun holding a tray. In the center of the tray was a coil of hemp rope.

When a consort was granted death, they were usually sent a three-foot length of white silk, a white, twilled silk made from raw silk. Even in a granted death, it symbolized a noble passing. However, to execute a deposed concubine, there was no need to use such a precious material to preserve her dignity, so Xie Wenjun only brought a coil of hemp rope.

The Deposed Concubine Yao showed a flicker of panic.

Even though she was now living ignobly in the dilapidated Cold Palace, death was not something she could face with equanimity.

Moreover, she knew perfectly well that no one cared whether she lived or died; she was merely fish meat on a chopping board, waiting to be butchered.

She suddenly rushed forward, clawing at the wooden door, shaking it desperately, her face pressed against a hole and distorted.

Dai Qing shielded Xie Wenjun behind her. The Cold Palace guards also swarmed over, holding the door, fearing that the Deposed Concubine Yao might burst out and harm Xie Wenjun at any moment.

The broken door rattled loudly from the impact. “I should have been the Empress! His Majesty had already decided to make me Empress, but then you arrived! When she became pregnant, His Majesty changed his mind!” The Deposed Concubine Yao seemed to have gone mad, her eyes blazing red. “You bastard! If it weren’t for you, this concubine would be the Empress!”

“Why? Your Majesty, for the sake of our many years of marriage, why treat me like this for the sake of a madwoman?” she cried out hoarsely, wailing in the direction of the Chongzheng Hall.

Xie Wenjun clenched her fingers.

Madwoman! Bastard! She had heard enough of that over the years.

“You are lucky to have a useful older brother.” Under the Deposed Concubine Yao’s astonished gaze, Xie Wenjun slowly pronounced her judgment: “I will not kill you today.”

The Deposed Concubine Yao was stunned for a moment. Her withered hand clawed out of the hole in the door, as if she wanted to drag Xie Wenjun over and tear her to shreds to vent her hatred. “You wolf-hearted little beast! What are you going to do to my brother?”

Xie Wenjun did not want to hear her commanding or reproaching, nor did she want to hear any sound coming from her mouth. She had had enough and utterly hated this tongue that spoke nothing but curses and insults.

“Summon the Imperial Physician. Cut out her tongue.”

These were two separate commands.

Summoning the Imperial Physician was to prevent her from dying from excessive blood loss after the cutting; they were to stop the bleeding immediately.

When Chen Liangyu arrived, having been led by Eunuch Wei around half the palace, what she saw was a gray-haired woman in palace attire being held by the arms by guards and pressed onto the ground. In front of her was a pool of blood. The Imperial Physician was methodically taking pills and powders from his medicine chest to administer to the palace woman.

Although she did not see her face, Chen Liangyu had already guessed the woman’s identity.

Xie Wenjun gave some further instructions to the Cold Palace guards, then walked toward her. As she approached, she pulled a half-volume book from her sleeve pocket.

Yes, a half-volume.

The book was only half complete, and even that half was not entirely intact, with corners of the pages occasionally missing.

Chen Liangyu carefully discerned the cover before she could make out the words: “‘On Women’ ? Does this book really exist?”

She had heard that someone had written a book that differed from “Precepts for Women”and “Admonitions for Women” , which required women to be virtuous, gentle, and submissive, to follow the Three Obediences and Four Virtues, and to prioritize their husband. This book had a bold style, urging women not to be content with domestic life but encouraging them to study, own property, and achieve fame in the imperial examinations.

She had searched for a long time but found no trace, and had thought the book was merely a rumor.

“The book was banned immediately after it was first published. At that time, investigations were strict; anyone found secretly possessing this book, or similar volumes, would be immediately taken out and executed, which is why none were preserved. However, the person who wrote the book must still have the original manuscript.” Xie Wenjun glanced back at the corner of the palace wall. “It’s ironic, but do you know who wrote this book?”

“Who is the author?”

“Yao Jifeng, the former Assistant Director of the Imperial Academy.”

The Deposed Concubine Yao’s older brother.

“Wasn’t Yao Jifeng already executed? The Yao family was annihilated during the Cangnan Civil Unrest case. So, does that mean there is no manuscript left besides this half-volume?”

“Yao Jifeng is indeed dead,” Xie Wenjun smiled mysteriously. “When the Cangnan Civil Unrest case was being investigated, Grand Tutor Gu Changxue rushed from Cangnan to the palace to have an audience with His Majesty.”

Grand Tutor Gu was Emperor Xuanyuan’s teacher and one of the people who supported his ascension to the throne. After Emperor Xuanyuan’s position was secured, he retired and returned to his hometown, Cangnan, to teach at his ancestral school, Hanhong Academy. Grateful for his teacher’s guidance and support, Emperor Xuanyuan had presented him with a blank imperial decree bearing the Imperial Seal.

“Grand Tutor Gu used that blank imperial decree to switch Yao Jifeng out. But since the imperial decree for the execution had already been issued, how could the order be changed overnight? So, a death row inmate was used to replace him. Now, Yao Jifeng has changed his name to Qi Xiu, married Grand Tutor Gu’s granddaughter, and is teaching at Hanhong Academy in Cangnan.”

In her surprise and delight, Chen Liangyu also sincerely exclaimed, “The one who wrote this book is actually a man.”

“Fortunately, he is a man. Only a man could write a book like this. If a woman had written these words, let alone the manuscript, she would probably have been beaten to death long ago.”

Xie Wenjun walked with her hands clasped behind her back, appearing like a capable minister with vast knowledge, who could discuss the world over wine.

In fact, she was indeed widely knowledgeable.

“Since you are going to attempt the impossible, you must plan early. You go and suppress the bandits first. When you return, there will naturally be someone to help you break this deadlock.” She took the half-volume, incomplete book from Chen Liangyu’s hand, put it back into her sleeve pocket, paused to think, and then cautioned her: “The bandits are ferocious. You must be careful.”