A Single Tie Of Long Hair Seals A Lifelong Commitment - Chapter 39.2

Xie Xuan pulled his black bear fur cloak tighter. Stepping out of the palace gate, he turned and looked deeply at the endless palace buildings behind him.

He developed a hatred for these layered palace walls.

In an instant, he suppressed the hatred and leapt onto his horse.

A stone bridge spanned the Xushui River.

Several pleasure boats and barges drifted gently beneath the bridge.

Pleasure boats had been around for a long time, but they only became widely popular in the 20th year of Xuanyuan’s reign.

That year, Qin Sensen, a famous courtesan from the Yifeng Pavilion, performed a dance and engaged in a poetry contest at the East Residence, earning a scroll of “Ode to Snow” from the Old Princess, which greatly boosted her fame.

She left behind a romantic story with the talented scholar Sheng Yuyan.

For a time, this sparked a public admiration for “talented women.”

Courtesans seized the opportunity and followed suit.

This was when the pleasure boats and barges began to flourish.

The barges were decorated in a simple, elegant style, fully equipped with the four treasures of the study, ancient books, paintings, musical instruments, and chess sets. People could discuss poetry, recite verses, and lie down tipsy while listening to music.

They were even accompanied by beautiful courtesans skilled in zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting.

People yearned for this and lingered endlessly.

Few people took a boat ride in this season. The temperature was low, and the river would freeze with a thin layer of ice at night. When the sun shone on it, the broken pieces floated on the water, pushed apart by the rocking oars, and drifted away with the current.

Xie Xuan was still wearing the black bear fur coat, sitting in the boat.

Zhai Ji was sitting across from him.

Several braziers were lit in the boat, and the charcoal was burning strongly. A charming woman, wearing a floral crown and a smoke-colored gauze dress, was playing the zither at the bow of the boat.

The wind blowing from the river carried moisture, making it both wet and cold.

This place was honestly not an ideal spot, but the Prince Qi’s Residence was under surveillance, and there were spies within the residence itself.

After being sent to his fiefdom for several years, Emperor Xuanyuan’s sudden edict summoning him back to the palace this year most likely intended to put him under house arrest in Yongdu.

Only in a place surrounded by water was there no worry about people listening against the walls.

If some eccentric person did manage to cling to the bottom of the boat to eavesdrop, they wouldn’t withstand the low temperature of the river water in this weather and would float up before they could climb ashore.

“Your Highness Prince Qi,” Zhai Ji succinctly stated the purpose of his invitation to Xie Xuan, “I can resolve Your Highness’s predicament.”

Xie Xuan asked, “What predicament does this King have?”

“Your Highness already possesses the strength to contend for the succession. The reason for your long-term inaction is not merely because your birth mother is still in the palace, is it? Your Highness’s greatest concern is the 200,000 strong army under Chen Linjun in the Northern Border.”

Zhai Ji still wore his hair braided, with beads at the ends of the braids. His winter coat was embroidered with white cranes soaring through clouds, and a white fur collar lay diagonally across his chest.

“I regret to inform Your Highness that Chen Linjun is no longer your only hidden trouble.”

Xie Xuan said, “Oh?”

“Chen Liangyu took away 50,000 troops and is in Nanzhou. Moreover, His Majesty bestowed upon her a hand-written Imperial Edict, which facilitates her mobilization of the Southern Border Garrison. With the siblings, one in the South and one in the North, and a pincer attack from both directions, what are Your Highness’s chances of victory? Furthermore, while His Majesty is ill, he has given the tally for mobilizing the Yongdu Garrison and the Twelve Guards to Chen Yuanqing. Without eliminating the Marquis of Xuanping’s Residence, how can Your Highness achieve greatness?”

Xie Xuan countered, “And what can you do about it?”

“What if we restrain Chen Linjun and make him immobile? The nomadic people have not been peaceful these past few years, harassing Chen Linjun here and there, preventing him from disengaging. If Great Yong is willing to send troops to cause him more trouble at this time, no matter how capable he is, he can only attend to one side and neglect the other.”

Zhai Ji placed his hands over the charcoal fire, flipping them over.

“As long as Chen Linjun is stalled, Chen Liangyu is nothing to fear. Nanzhou is thousands of miles from Yongdu. The fastest news can reach her would require ten or so horses to run to death. Even if she receives the message, it will be too late.”

Xie Xuan said, “Even if it is as you say, the Marquis of Xuanping still presides over Yongdu.”

Zhai Ji smiled, saying, “Your Highness had the power to contend with the Crown Prince back then. After so many years of plotting and planning, how could you not have placed a hidden piece?”

Xie Xuan was suspicious. “Inciting this King to rebel, what is your intention?”

“What intention could there be? I have been away from home for many years, and I miss my home. Naturally, I hope that His Highness Prince Qi can be generous and allow me to return to my homeland. That is the first.”

“And the second?”

The second could be described as his and Xie Xuan’s common goal.

“I want the Chen family dead.”

He spoke the words indifferently, without much emotion. A moment later, perhaps feeling that Xie Xuan hadn’t fully understood, he added a few clarifying words, “Not a single one left.”

Xie Xuan looked at him with an inscrutable gaze.

That gaze carried thorns, as if it could strip away everything and penetrate the heart. He scoffed, “The Marquis of Xuanping constructed the military defenses for the sixteen cities in the three northern provinces to defend against border threats! The biggest border threat is your Bei Yong (Northern Yong)! If the Chen family were all dead, it would be convenient for your Bei Yong to invade the territory of my Great Lin.”

“Is the Central Lin Dynasty so devoid of talent that without a Marquis of Xuanping’s Residence, it cannot produce other excellent generals? Chen Yuanqing has always only listened to the Emperor. Chen Linjun supports the orthodox line, and Chen Liangyu is close to Prince Shen. Talent that cannot be used by Your Highness is a great calamity.”

He always hit the nail on the head. But three short sentences were not enough to sway Xie Xuan.

The next sentence was what truly ignited Xie Xuan’s intent to kill the Marquis of Xuanping’s Residence.

“People who are unwilling to support Your Highness are useless even if they are kept alive, are they not?”

Xie Xuan glanced in the direction of the Imperial Palace. Naturally, he couldn’t see the palace buildings from the pleasure boat, he merely raised his eyes.

He empty-gazed for a moment, and Zhai Ji quickly and sensitively picked up a new clue from it.

“Your Highness will not be able to return to Zhudong,” he said.

No Imperial Decree, no return to the court.

No Imperial Decree, no leaving the residence.

One was aimed at banishment, the other at house arrest. He had accepted the first decree, and the second decree was likely to arrive soon.

Xie Xuan’s face was cold, and he said nothing. His inability to return to Zhudong was a fact understood by everyone, known by everyone, only waiting for someone to break the thin silk paper.

“Does His Highness Prince Qi believe that Consort De’s muteness came about naturally?”

Xie Xuan finally had a major reaction.

“Who did it?”

“The Eastern Palace. Your Imperial Sister.”

Xie Xuan: “Jiangning?”

“Do you have another Imperial Sister?” Zhai Ji said, “Has His Highness Prince Qi ever examined Consort De’s injuries?”

Xie Xuan: “Injuries? What injuries? My mother was injured?”

Zhai Ji said, “Consort De’s muteness is not because her vocal cords were damaged. Her tongue was cut off.”

He suddenly felt a heavy force lifting him up.

Xie Xuan desperately clenched his collar, biting down heavily on every syllable: “What… did… you… say!”

The suffocating pain that surged from his heart made it difficult for him to breathe.

Cut off? He could hardly imagine the hellish life his mother had endured in the Cold Palace after he had gone to his fiefdom.

“Does Your Highness Prince Qi still wish to bring your mother to your side to care for her? But you cannot even protect yourself. If the Crown Prince ascends the throne in the future, will there be any place for the mother and son in this vast world?”

Zhai Ji slowly pried open the fist clenched at his chest, finger by finger, gently taking the hand away and smoothing his clothing.

“The mother gains status through the son. If you ascend the throne, Consort De will be the revered Empress Dowager; if you do not contend, or fail to gain the throne, she will remain a deposed concubine in the Cold Palace.”

Although Emperor Xuanyuan had now reinstated her title as Consort De, she could not speak, was crippled, and clearly had no prospect of regaining favor.

She could only slowly survive in the Chonghua Palace, which was no better than the Cold Palace.

Everything that needed to be said had been said. He wanted Xie Xuan to do two things: first, let him return to Bei Yong; second, eliminate the Marquis of Xuanping’s Residence.

It didn’t greatly matter to him who became the emperor of Central Lin. If he wished, he could stir up the waters of Central Lin even more, sitting on the mountain and watching the tigers fight.

But the only person who could help him accomplish these two things was Prince Qi.

He warmed himself for a little longer, then stood up.

Neither the tea nor the dishes in front of them had been touched by Zhai Ji or Xie Xuan.

They did not trust each other.

“Remember, the Spring Plowing Festival in February.”